Triangulum II (Tri II orLaevens 2) is adwarf galaxy close to theMilky Way Galaxy. Like other dwarf spheroidal galaxies, its stellar population is very old: the galaxy wasquenched before 11.5 billion years ago.[2] It contains only 1000 stars, yet is quite massive, having a solar mass to light ratio of 3600.[3] This is an unusually high mass for such a small galaxy.[4]
The distance from the centre of the Milky Way is 26 kpc (85 kly). The luminosity is 450 times that of the Sun.[3] This makes it one of the dimmest known galaxies.[3] The 2D half light radius is 34 pc (110 ly). The galaxy was discovered in images taken byPan-STARRS byBenjamin P. M. Laevens in 2015.[1][3]
Triangulum II is a candidate for detectingWIMPs as a source ofdark matter.[4]
