Willman 1

Willman 1
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationUrsa Major
Right ascension10h 49m 22.5s
Declination+51° 03′ 00.4″
Heliocentric radial velocity-13.0 ± 1.1 km/s
Distance126 ± 2 kly (38.55 ± 0.45 kpc)
Apparent magnitude (V)15.4 ± 0.7 mag
Absolute magnitude (V)-2.56 ± 0.74 mag
Characteristics
Typeultra-faint dwarf galaxy
Mass5.9+3.7
−3.4
×105 M
Mass/Light ratio660 ± 590 M/L
Half-light radius (physical)26.8 ± 3.2 pc
Half-light radius (apparent)2.51 ± 0.22 arcmin
Other designations
SDSS J1049+5103

Willman 1 is an ultra faint dwarf galaxy discovered in 2005. It is named after Beth Willman of Haverford College who first identified it as an over-density of stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The object is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way and is located approximately 39 kiloparsecs (130,000 light-years) from Earth. Besides the Magellanic Clouds, it is the only other Milky Way dwarf galaxy named after a person and the only Milky Way dwarf galaxy named after a woman. Willman 1 was the lowest luminosity galaxy known at the time of discovery with an absolute magnitude of -2.5.