Our Local Group of galaxies contains at least 80 members, the vast majority of which are dwarfs. These small galaxies are somewhat hard to detect in or near the plane of the Milky Way (thus, the uncertainty about the number); one such galaxy is the Ursa Minor Dwarf Galaxy. It was discovered by A.G. Wilson at Lowell Observatory in 1955.
The Ursa Minor Dwarf is a small galaxy, a loose aggregation of stars, and a satellite of the Milky Way. Its gravitational center lies 200,000 light-years away, and it seems to have undergone a burst of star formation early on that lasted for about 2 billion years.
Observationally, it is an extreme challenge. The galaxy covers 30′ but it has a “core diameter” of about 10′. The galaxy’s total magnitude is 11.9, but its surface brightness is extremely low and the stellar membership is poor. This is an object that astroimagers may have more success with than visual observers.
A few papers exist on the Ursa Minor Dwarf, but it is a poorly studied object.
