Editing Dwarf galaxy (section)

==Blue compact dwarf galaxies==
{{anchor|Blue compact dwarf galaxies}}
[[File:An intriguing young-looking dwarf galaxy.jpg|thumb|Blue compact dwarf [[PGC 51017]].<ref>
{{cite web
 |date=16 March 2015
 |title=An intriguing young-looking dwarf galaxy
 |url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1511a/
 |publisher=[[European Space Agency|ESA]]/[[Hubble Space Telescope|Hubble]]
 |access-date=2015-03-21
}}</ref>]]

In [[astronomy]], a '''blue compact dwarf galaxy''' ('''BCD galaxy''') is a small galaxy which contains large [[Star cluster|clusters]] of young, hot, massive [[star]]s. These stars, the brightest of which are blue, cause the galaxy itself to appear [[blue]] in colour.<ref>
{{cite web
 |date=2 September 2011
 |title=WISE Discovers Baby Galaxies in the Nearby Universe
 |url=http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/sciupdates_babygalaxy.html
 |publisher=[[Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer|WISE]]
 |access-date=2011-09-03
}}</ref> Most BCD galaxies are also classified as dwarf [[Irregular galaxy|irregular galaxies]] or as dwarf [[lenticular galaxy|lenticular galaxies]]. Because they are composed of star clusters, BCD galaxies lack a uniform shape. They consume gas intensely, which causes their stars to become very violent when forming.

BCD galaxies cool in the process of [[Star formation|forming new stars]]. The galaxies' stars are all formed at different time periods, so the galaxies have time to cool and to build up matter to form new stars. As time passes, this star formation changes the shape of the galaxies.

Nearby examples include [[NGC 1705]], [[NGC 2915]], [[NGC 3353]] and [[UGCA 281]].<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1=López-Sánchez |first1=Á. R.
 |last2=Koribalski |first2=B.
 |last3=van Eymeren |first3=J.
 |last4=Esteban |first4=C.
 |last5=Popping |first5=A.
 |last6=Hibbard |first6=J.
 |year=2010
 |title=The environment of nearby Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies
 |journal=[[ASP Conference Series]]
 |volume=421 |page=65
 |arxiv=0909.5500
 |bibcode=2010ASPC..421...65L
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 |last=Papaderos |first=P.
 |date=7 May 2010
 |title=Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies
 |url=http://www.observational-cosmology.eu/papaderos/Teaching/Papaderos_UCM_May2010_Lecture2.pdf
 |publisher=Centro de Astrofísica da [[Universidade do Porto]]
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 |last1     = Noeske
 |first1    = K.
 |last2     = Papaderos
 |first2    = P.
 |last3     = Cairos
 |first3    = L. M.
 |date      = 2003
 |title     = New insights to the photometric structure of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies from deep Near-Infrared Studies
 |url       = http://estallidos.iac.es/estallidos/workshops/workshopI/charlas/KNoeske.pdf
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110815201613/http://estallidos.iac.es/estallidos/workshops/workshopI/charlas/KNoeske.pdf

 |archive-date = 2011-08-15
 |publisher = [[Göttingen Observatory]]
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1=Meurer |first1=G. R.
 |last2=Mackie |first2=G.
 |last3=Carignan |first3=C.
 |date=1994
 |title=Optical observations of NGC 2915: A nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy
 |journal=[[The Astronomical Journal]]
 |volume=107 |issue=6 |pages=2021–2035
 |bibcode=1994AJ....107.2021M
 |doi=10.1086/117013
}}</ref>