NGC 5907
Encyclopedia
NGC 5907 is a spiral galaxy
located approximately 50 million light years from Earth
. It has an anomalously low metallicity
and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars
.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. Then 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.
NGC 5907 is also known at the Knife Edge or Splinter galaxy.
The galaxy was discovered in 1788 by William Herschel
. Supernova
1940A was in this galaxy.
Spiral galaxy
A spiral galaxy is a certain kind of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence. Spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as...
located approximately 50 million light years from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. It has an anomalously low metallicity
Metallicity
In astronomy and physical cosmology, the metallicity of an object is the proportion of its matter made up of chemical elements other than hydrogen and helium...
and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars
Dwarf star
The term dwarf star refers to a variety of distinct classes of stars.* Dwarf star alone generally refers to any main sequence star, a star of luminosity class V.** Red dwarfs are low-mass main sequence stars....
.It is a member of the NGC 5866 Group
NGC 5866 Group
The 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....
.
NGC 5907 has long been considered a prototypical example of a warped spiral in relative isolation. Then 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.
NGC 5907 is also known at the Knife Edge or Splinter galaxy.
The galaxy was discovered in 1788 by William Herschel
William Herschel
Sir Frederick William Herschel, KH, FRS, German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel was a German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer. Born in Hanover, Wilhelm first followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, but emigrated to Britain at age 19...
. Supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
1940A was in this galaxy.
External links
- Ghost of a Dwarf Galaxy (Fossils of the Hierarchical Formation of the Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 5907)
- Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 5907 (2008 June 19 )
- Fossils of the Hierarchical Formation of the Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC5907 (arXiv:0805.1137)