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.

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 12 known dwarf galaxies orbiting it. See Milky Way for more information.

Dwarf galaxies come in many different morphologies:

• Elliptical galaxy - dwarf elliptical galaxy and its subtype dwarf spheroidal galaxy
• Irregular galaxy - dwarf irregular galaxy
• Spiral galaxy - dwarf spiral galaxy and dwarf barred spiral galaxy

External links

• Milky Way Satellite Galaxies