Leo I was the only dwarf galaxy I knew in the Leo constellation. On the Grandpre observation weekend, one of the observing challenges was Leo II. So I got a quick snapshot of it (only 90 minutes) to have an idea.
It turns out well in the picture, clearly visible as a galaxy but also some of the brightest stars (around mag 20).
One tiny galaxy peers through Leo II (left inside of Leo II). This is (ref:Skysafari catalogues) PGC5250798, a magn. +21 galaxy distant at an incredible 6 billion lightyears, and even more incredible, receeding at an asthonishing rate ot 109817 km per second. That is 36% of light speed.
Leo II itself is magnitude 11th, with dimensions 14.8′ x12.2′. It’s only 457 thousand light years away (for times the diameter of our own galaxy). It is also really small with a diameter of 1961 lightyears.
(click on the image for a larger view)
