Gaia Sausage

The Gaia Sausage, also called Gaia Enceladus, is the remains of a dwarf galaxy called the Sausage Galaxy. It combined with the Milky Way about 8-11 billion years ago.

Etymology

The "Gaia Sausage" is called that because of the sausage shape of the population of the stars, using data from the Gaia spacecraft. The stars that have collided with the Milky Way have a high elliptical orbit.

The name "Enceladus" is from the mythological giant Enceladus, who was buried under Mount Etna and caused earthquakes. This former galaxy was buried in the Milky Way,

Parts

The globular clusters that used to be in this dwarf galaxy are Messier 2, Messier 56, Messier 75, Messier 79, NGC 1851, and NGC 5286.

  • Omega Centauri
  • M32p, a large galaxy that collided with the Andromeda Galaxy
  • Kraken Galaxy, another proposed large galaxy merged into the Milky way but earlier than the "Gaia Sausage"


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