Capricornus Dwarf (Palomar 12)
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Palomar 12. Digital Sky Survey, 20.88'
field
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An object originally classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy by Fritz Zwicky
(although he catalogued it with the wrong sign in declination) and presumed
to be a member of the Local Group. Later
it was found actually to be a remote globular
cluster within our own galaxy, and catalogued as the twelfth object
in the Palomar catalogue of globular clusters. Palomar 12 lies in the constellation
Capricornus, about 62,000 light-years from the
Sun and some 49,000 light-years from the galactic center at R.A. 21h 46.6m,
Dec. -21° 15'. According to one hypothesis, it may have escaped from
the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy to
become part of the Milky Way's halo.
Related category
• NEBULAE
AND STAR CLUSTERS
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