Sag DEG

Sag DEG is a small loop-shaped satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It is known by other names, such as the Sagittarius dwarf elliptical galaxy or the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy.

It consists of four globular clusters. The main cluster having been discovered in 1994. Sag DEG is about 10,000 light-years in diameter, and is about 70,000 light-years from Earth. 

It moves in a polar orbit (i.e. an orbit passing through the galactic plane) at a distance of about 50,000 light-years from the core of the Milky Way (about 1/3 the distance of the Large Magellanic Cloud). In its looping, spiralling path, it has passed through the plane of the Milky Way several times in the past.

Sag DEG should not be confused with the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy, or the Sag DIG, a small galaxy 3.4 million light-years distant.

 References 

Category:Elliptical galaxies
Category:Local galaxies