Pisces Overdensity
Clump of stars within the halo of the Milky Way
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The Pisces Overdensity is a clump of stars in the Milky Way's halo, which may be a disrupted dwarf spheroidal galaxy.[5] It is situated in the Pisces constellation and was discovered in 2009 by analysis of distribution of RR Lyrae stars in the data obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's data.[2] The galaxy is located at the distance of about 80 kpc from the Sun and moves towards it with a speed of about 75 km/s.[4]
| Pisces Overdensity | |
|---|---|
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Pisces |
| Right ascension | 23h 19m 00s[1] |
| Declination | +00° 00′ 00″[1] |
| Distance | 260 kly (80 kpc)[2] |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | −10.35[3] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | dIrr/dSph[3] |
| Apparent size (V) | ~1°[4] |
| Other designations | |
| Pisces Plume[1] | |
The Pisces Overdensity is one of the faintest satellites of the Milky Way.[5] Its mass is estimated to be at least 105 Solar masses.[2] However it has a large size of about several degrees (around 1 kpc) and may be in a transitional phase between a gravitationally bound galaxy and completely unbound system.[4] The Pisces Overdensity is located near the plane, where the Magellanic Clouds lie. There may exist a connection between the Magellanic Stream and this galaxy.[2]