Sagittarius Dwarf

dwarf spheroidal galaxy · being torn apart by the Milky Way

86,000 light-years from Earth

Hidden behind the crowded middle of the Milky Way, it was found only in 1994. Our galaxy is tearing it into a stream of stars that loops right around the sky, and the globular cluster M54 sits at its heart.

• 86,000 light-years, beyond the Milky Way's centre
• half its light lies within 8,500 light-years

kind

galaxy

size

68,000 light-years across