NGC 5907

NGC 5907 (also known as Knife Edge Galaxy or Splinter Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 50 million light years from Earth.[2] It has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars.[3] It is a member of the NGC 5866 Group.

NGC 5907
NGC 5907 and its looping stellar stream.
Image courtesy of R. Jay GaBany
Observation data
ConstellationDraco
Right ascension 15h 15m 53s[1]
Declination+56° 19 40[1]
Redshift0.002225[1]
Helio radial velocity667 ± 3 km/s[1]
Distance53.5 ± 8.1 Mly
(16.4 ± 2.5 Mpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)11.1[1]
Characteristics
TypeSb+
Apparent size (V)12.7' x 1.4'[1]
Other designations
H II.759, GC 4087, h 1917, Splinter Galaxy, NGC 5906, UGC 09801, PGC 054470, MCG +09-25-040[1]

NGC 5907 has long been considered a prototypical example of a warped spiral in relative isolation. In 2006, an international team of astronomers announced the presence of an extended tidal stream surrounding the galaxy that challenges this picture and suggests the gravitational perturbations induced by the stream progenitor may be the cause for the warp.

The galaxy was discovered in 1788 by William Herschel. Supernova 1940A was in this galaxy.[4]

Location

The edge-on galaxy is seen in the constellation Draco, near the star iota Draconis. It is near in the sky to more the much distant galaxy NGC 5965.

NGC Identification

NGC 5907 is also known as NGC 5906.[5][6] This second NGC number refers to a fainter part of the galaxy[5] lying west of the dust lane[6] that was recorded by astronomer and physicist George Johnstone Stoney on April 13, 1850.[5]

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References

  1. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 5907. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  2. "Distance Results for NGC 5907". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  3. Liu, M. C.; Marleau, F. R.; Graham, J. R.; Charlot, S.; Sackett, P.; Zepf, S. E. (December 1998). "Weighing the Stellar Content of NGC 5907's Dark Matter Halo". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 30: 1258. Bibcode:1998AAS...193.0807L.
  4. "List of Supernovae". Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (IAU). Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  5. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 5900 - 5949". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  6. "Your NED Search Results". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-26.


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