A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars, a small number compared to our own Milky Way's 200-400 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud, containing over 30 billion stars, is sometimes classified as a dwarf galaxy while others consider it a full-fledged galaxy going around the Milky Way galaxy. There are many dwarf galaxies in the Local Group: these small galaxies frequently orbit around larger galaxies, such as the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy. The Milky Way has 14 known dwarf galaxies orbiting it. See Milky Way for more information. Dwarf galaxies come in many different morphologies: * Elliptical galaxy: dwarf elliptical galaxy (dE) and its subtype dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) * Irregular galaxy: dwarf irregular galaxy (dI) * Spiral galaxy: dwarf spiral galaxy The recently coined term, hobbit galaxy has been used to describe galaxies smaller and dimmer than dwarf galaxies.[1],[2] Partial list of dwarf galaxies * Aquarius Dwarf See also * Galaxy morphological classification * List of nearest galaxies Links * Milky Way Satellite Galaxies * SPACE.com article on "hobbit galaxies" * Science article on "hobbit galaxies"
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