NGC 5907

NGC 5907 (also known as Knife Edge Galaxy or Splinter Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 46.5 million light years from Earth.^[2] German-British astronomer William Herschel discovered the galaxy on 5 May 1788.^[3]

NGC 5907
NGC 5907
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Draco
Right ascension	15h 15m 53.2397s[1]
Declination	+56° 19′ 47.568″[1]
Redshift	0.002218[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	665 ± 1 km/s[1]
Distance	46.56 ± 1.77 Mly (14.275 ± 0.543 Mpc)[2]
Group or cluster	NGC 5907 group (LGG 396)
Apparent magnitude (V)	11.1[1]
Characteristics
Type	SA(s)c? edge-on
Size	~173,400 ly (53.15 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)	12.7′ × 1.4′[1]
Other designations
Splinter Galaxy, HOLM 704A, IRAS 15146+5629, NGC 5906, UGC 9801, MCG +09-25-040, PGC 54470, CGCG 274-038[1]

Characteristics

NGC 5907 has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars.^[4] It is a member of the NGC 5866 Group.

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 existence of part of these tidal streams has been recently challenged by some deeper surveys.

An ultraluminous X-ray source is located in the galaxy.^[5]

NGC 5907 and the galaxy KUG 1513+566 are listed together as Holm 704 in Erik Holmberg's A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems, published in 1937.^[6]

NGC 5907 group

NGC 5907 is part of a group of galaxies that bears its name. The NGC 5907 group (also known as LGG 396) has at least four members, including Messier 102, NGC 5879, and UGC 9776.^[7]

Supernova

One supernova has been observed in NGC 5907: SN 1940A (type II-L, mag 14.3) was discovered by Josef J. Johnson on 16 February 1940.^[8][9][10]

Location

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

NGC Identification

NGC 5907 is also known as NGC 5906.^[3][11] This second NGC number refers to a fainter part of the galaxy^[3] lying west of the dust lane^[11] that was recorded by astronomer and physicist George Johnstone Stoney on April 13, 1850.^[3]

Gallery

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  Spiral galaxy NGC 5907, by HST.