GR 8 (galaxy)

GR 8, also known as UGC 8091, is a small, gas-rich galaxy that is not like the big, beautiful spiral galaxies we often see in pictures. It is called a dwarf irregular galaxy. Scientists think it is about 7.9 million light-years away from Earth.

Astronomers first found GR 8 at the Lick Observatory using a special telescope called an astrograph in either 1946, 1947, or 1951. Scientists are still studying GR 8 to learn more about it. They wonder if it belongs to a group of galaxies called the Local Group or if it is part of a bigger collection of galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. This helps us understand how galaxies like our own Milky Way formed and changed over time.