All Topics  
NGC 5866

 
NGC 5866

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

NGC 5866
 
 
  Topics NGC 5866 Topic Home

NGC 5866 (also called the Spindle Galaxy) is a relatively bright lenticular galaxy
Lenticular galaxy

File:File-Ngc5866 hst big.pngA lenticular galaxy is a type of galaxy which is intermediate between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy in galaxy morphological classification schemes....
 in the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
 Draco
Draco (constellation)

Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon. Draco is circumpolar star for many observers in the northern hemisphere....
. Some astronomers believe that the NGC 5866 may be a candidate for Messier 102
Messier 102

Messier 102 is a galaxy listed in the Messier Catalogue that has not been identified unambiguously. Its original discoverer Pierre M?chain later claimed that it was a duplicate observation of Messier 101, but there are historical and observational reasons to believe that it would actually be NGC 5866, although other galaxies have been sugges...
. NGC 5866 was probably discovered by Pierre Méchain
Pierre Méchain

Pierre Fran?ois Andr? M?chain was a France astronomer and surveying who, with Charles Messier, was a major contributor to the early study of deep sky objects and comets....
 or Charles Messier
Charles Messier

Charles Messier was a France astronomy most notable for publishing an astronomical catalog consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 103 "Messier objects"....
 in 1781, and independently found by William Herschel
William Herschel

Sir Frederick William Herschel, Fellow of the Royal Society Royal Guelphic Order was a German-born British astronomer and composer who became famous for discovering Uranus....
 in 1788.

of the most outstanding features of NGC 5866 is the extended dust disk, which is seen exactly edge-on.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'NGC 5866'
Start a new discussion about 'NGC 5866'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


NGC 5866 (also called the Spindle Galaxy) is a relatively bright lenticular galaxy
Lenticular galaxy

File:File-Ngc5866 hst big.pngA lenticular galaxy is a type of galaxy which is intermediate between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy in galaxy morphological classification schemes....
 in the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
 Draco
Draco (constellation)

Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon. Draco is circumpolar star for many observers in the northern hemisphere....
. Some astronomers believe that the NGC 5866 may be a candidate for Messier 102
Messier 102

Messier 102 is a galaxy listed in the Messier Catalogue that has not been identified unambiguously. Its original discoverer Pierre M?chain later claimed that it was a duplicate observation of Messier 101, but there are historical and observational reasons to believe that it would actually be NGC 5866, although other galaxies have been sugges...
. NGC 5866 was probably discovered by Pierre Méchain
Pierre Méchain

Pierre Fran?ois Andr? M?chain was a France astronomer and surveying who, with Charles Messier, was a major contributor to the early study of deep sky objects and comets....
 or Charles Messier
Charles Messier

Charles Messier was a France astronomy most notable for publishing an astronomical catalog consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 103 "Messier objects"....
 in 1781, and independently found by William Herschel
William Herschel

Sir Frederick William Herschel, Fellow of the Royal Society Royal Guelphic Order was a German-born British astronomer and composer who became famous for discovering Uranus....
 in 1788.

Dust disk

One of the most outstanding features of NGC 5866 is the extended dust disk, which is seen exactly edge-on. This dust disk is highly unusual for a lenticular galaxy
Lenticular galaxy

File:File-Ngc5866 hst big.pngA lenticular galaxy is a type of galaxy which is intermediate between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy in galaxy morphological classification schemes....
. The dust in most lenticular galaxies is generally found only near the nucleus and generally follows the light profile of the galaxies' bulges. This dust disk may contain a ring-like structure, although the shape of this structure is difficult to determine given the edge-on orientation of the galaxy. It is also possible that the galaxy is a spiral galaxy
Spiral galaxy

A spiral galaxy is a galaxy belonging to one of the three main galaxy morphological classification originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ?The Realm of the Nebulae? and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence....
 that was misclassified as a lenticular galaxy because of its edge-on orientation, in which case the dust disk would not be too unusual.

Galaxy group information

NGC 5866 is one of the brightest galaxies in the NGC 5866 Group
NGC 5866 Group

File:File-Ngc5866 hst big.pngThe NGC 5866 Group is a small group of galaxies located in the constellation Draco . The group is named after NGC 5866, the galaxy with the highest apparent magnitude in the group, although some galaxy group catalogs list NGC 5907 as the brightest member....
, a small galaxy group
Galaxy groups and clusters

Galaxy groups and clusters are the largest gravitationally-bound objects to have arisen thus far in the process of cosmic structure formation....
 that also includes the spiral galaxies NGC 5879
NGC 5879

NGC 5879 is a galaxy in Draco .The galaxy was discovered in 1788 by William Herschel. It is a member of the NGC 5866 Group....
 and NGC 5907
NGC 5907

NGC 5907 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 39 million light years from Earth. It has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars....
. This group may actually be a subclump at the northwest end of a large, elongated structure that comprises the M51 Group
M51 Group

The M51 Group is a group of galaxies located in Canes Venatici. The group is named after the brightest galaxy in the group, the Whirlpool Galaxy ....
 and the M101 Group
M101 Group

The M101 Group is a loose group of galaxies located in Ursa Major. The group is named after the brightest galaxy in the group, the Pinwheel Galaxy ....
, although most sources distinguish the three groups as separate entities.

See also

  • NGC 3115
    NGC 3115

    NGC 3115 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Sextans . The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on February 22, 1787. At about 32 million light-years away from us it is several times bigger than our Milky Way....
     - another lenticular galaxy referred to as the Spindle Galaxy
  • NGC 4710
    NGC 4710

    NGC 4710 is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices .External linksReferences...
     - another lenticular galaxy viewed edge-on


External links