Today I talked to astronomer Charlotte Christensen of Grinnell College. She studies (among other things) dwarf galaxies. 
Dwarf galaxies, galaxies with masses about 10% that of the Milky Way or smaller, such as the Magellanic Clouds, are perfect laboratories for studying galaxy evolution. The small gravitational potentials of dwarf galaxies make them uniquely sensitive environments for understanding the physics of galaxy formation, including the processes that drive gas accretion, gas loss, and star formation. Dwarf satellites of the Milky Way or similar nearby galaxies may help constrain these processes, but only if the effect of the large halo environment the dwarf galaxies exist in can be well understood. 
Marshall Poe is the founder and editor of the New Books Network. He can be reached at marshallpoe@newbooksnetwork.com.
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