Updated Information on the Local Group

The present note updates the information published in my recent monograph on\underline{The Galaxies of the Local Group}. Highlights include (1) theaddition of the newly discovered Cetus dwarf spheroidal as a certain member ofthe Local Group, (2) an improved distance for SagDIG, which now places thisobject very close to the edge of the Local Group zero-velocity surface, (3)more information on the evolutionary histories of some individual Local Groupmembers, and (4) improved distance determinations to, and luminosities for, anumber of Local Group members. These data increase the number of certain (orprobable) Local Group members to 36. The spatial distribution of these galaxiessupports Hubble's claim that the Local Group ``is isolated in the generalfield.'' Presently available evidence suggests that star formation continuedmuch longer in many dwarf spheroidals than it did in the main body of theGalactic halo. It is suggested that ``young'' globular clusters, such asRuprecht 106, might have formed in now defunct dwarf spheroidals. AssumingSagDIG, which is the most remote Local Group galaxy, to lie on, or just inside,the zero-velocity surface of the Local Group yields a dynamical age \gtrsim17.9 \pm 2.7 Gyr.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, to be published in the April 2000 issue of PAS