Constellation Pegasus Declination 19° 07′ 02″ | Right ascension 21 21 31 Apparent magnitude (V) 14.9 | |
Distance 55.1 ± 2.3 kly (16.9 ± 0.7 kpc) Apparent dimensions (V) 52 ± 10″ (half-light diameter) | ||
Segue 3
Segue 3 is a faint star cluster of the Milky Way galaxy discovered in 2010 in the data obtained by Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It is located in the Pegasus constellation at the distance of about 17 kpc from the Sun and moves away from it with the velocity of 167.1 ± 1.5 km/s.
Segue 3 is extremely faint—its visible absolute magnitude is estimated at −1.2 or even at about 0.0 ± 0.8, which means that the cluster is only 100 to 250 times brighter than the Sun. Its small radius—of about 2.1 pc—is typical for the galactic globular clusters. The cluster has a slightly flattened shape and shows some evidence of the tidal disruption.
The metallicity of Segue's 3 stars is [Fe/H] ≈ −1.7, which means that they contain 70 times less heavy elements than the Sun. These stars are more than 12 billion year old. Segue 3 appears to be one of the faintest globular clusters of the Milky Way.