Abstract
The term “subgalactic” is most often used in astronomical literature in connection with protogalaxies (G 1), in which subgalactic objects are the building blocks of galaxies as part of the “hierarchical clustering” process in the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) theory. In theory, subgalactic objects could also be failed galaxies, analogous to the failed stars known as brown dwarfs (S 22) in the substellar Family (Chapter 10), or they could be remnants of galaxy formation analogous to dwarf planets (P 9) and the small bodies of the solar system (Chapter 4, P 11, 12, and 13) in the subplanetary Family (Chapter 4). Because little evidence exists as yet for either failed galaxies or remnants of galaxy formation that are not incorporated into another galaxy as galactic rings (G 10), we define the class of subgalactic clumps to be the building blocks of galaxies that are not yet part of a protogalaxy in formation.
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Dick, S.J. (2019). The Subgalactic Family. In: Classifying the Cosmos. Astronomers' Universe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10380-4_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10380-4_16
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