Maffei galaxies

Maffei galaxies, 2 galaxies near the Milky Way, discovered behind cosmic dust clouds through the use of a special infrared-sensitive telescope and photographic system by Italian astronomer Paolo Maffei (1968). Maffei I is an elliptical galaxy of about 100 billion stars, located approximately 3,000,000 light-years away. Maffei II is a spiral galaxy of about 10 billion stars, located approximately 9,000,000 light-years away.

See also: Galaxy.