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Our Milky Way galaxy is on the heavy side. We have hundreds of billions of stars, and an even more massive amount of dark matter.
我們的銀河系體積有點偏胖。銀河系擁有千億顆恒星，以及數(shù)量更加龐大的暗物質(zhì)。
With just 1,000 stars, the dwarf galaxy Segue 2 becomes the smallest one known. Researchers published measurements of the galaxy's size in the Astrophysical Journal.
矮星系 Segue 2 只擁有1000顆恒星，成為已知的最小的星系。研究人員在《天體物理學(xué)雜志》上發(fā)表了星系尺寸的測量方法。
Segue 2 is one of dozens of “companion” galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. Scientists who model how galaxies form expect there to be thousands of small galaxies orbiting nearby, even if most are too faint to see with existing technology. The discovery of Segue 2 offers astronomers a hint that the neighborhood around the Milky Way really is clumpy with tiny companions.
Segue 2 是圍繞著銀河系運轉(zhuǎn)的數(shù)十個衛(wèi)星星系的其中之一?？茖W(xué)家模擬了銀河系的形成，他們認(rèn)為銀河系附近有數(shù)千個小星系，即使以目前的科技水平幾乎看不見其中大部分星系。Segue 2 的發(fā)現(xiàn)給了天文學(xué)家一個暗示——銀河系周圍確實環(huán)繞著許多小星系。
Researchers think that when Segue 2 first formed over 100 million years ago, it was much larger and brighter. But repeated orbits around the Milky Way stripped away most of its membership. The last thousand stars and a smattering of dark matter thus claim the title of smallest galaxy known. For now.
研究人員認(rèn)為當(dāng) Segue 2 于一億年前首次形成時，它的體積更大，也更明亮。但是重復(fù)繞銀河系軌道運動讓它失去了大部分的恒星成員。就目前而言，最后的一千顆恒星加上少許的暗物質(zhì)讓它成為名符其實的最小星系。
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