Reticulum II

Coordinates: Sky map 02h 35m 42.14s, −54° 2′ 57.1″
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Reticulum II
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationReticulum
Right ascension03h 35m 42.14s[1]
Declination−54° 2′ 57.1″[1]
Distance103 kly (31.6 kpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)17.4[1]
Characteristics
Apparent size (V)3.37′ × 3.64′[1]
Notable featuresEnriched in r-process elements
Other designations
Reticulum II, Reticulum 2[1]

Reticulum II (or Reticulum 2) is a

Magellanic Clouds and was probably captured relatively recently.[3] Like other dwarf spheroidal galaxies, its stellar population is old: the galaxy was quenched before 11.5 billion years ago.[3]

Reticulum II is elongated, having an major/minor axis ratio of 0.6. The size is given by a

red giant branch.[1][4] It has an unusual enhancement of r-process elements, meaning that gold and europium are enriched in the brightest stars in the galaxy.[5] About 72% of its stars are enriched in r-process elements.[2] The implication of the unusual enrichment in elements heavier than zinc, is that the r-process is very rare, and only happened once in this galaxy, possibly by the collision of two neutron stars.[6]

Fermi satellite.[7] The radiation from Reticulum II is more significant than that of other dwarf galaxy emissions.[8] However this finding has been contested.[9]

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 118267222
    .
  2. ^
    S2CID 254221028
    .
  3. ^
    S2CID 236965965
    .
  4. S2CID 12011753
    .
  5. ^ Ji, Alex (22 March 2016). "The Origin of the Cosmos' Heaviest Elements". Phys.org. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  6. S2CID 205248401
    .
  7. S2CID 118482641
    .
  8. S2CID 16494335
    .
  9. ^ Overbye, Dennis (10 March 2015). "Gamma Rays May Be Clue on Dark Matter". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
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