The Galaxy NGC 5907 of Edge-on in Draco offers one of the best galaxies in the sky which is aligned in this way to our line of view. Credit: KPNO/NERLELELAB/NSF/AURA/Adam Block
Perhaps there are 100 billion of galaxies in the universe right now, although the cosmos could be infinite and the number even larger. Of the huge number of galaxies, several thousand are quite bright to be seen well with a small or medium -sized courtyard telescope. And of course the guidelines of the galaxies in space are everywhere: only a handful of galaxies are really bright in our sky and oriented almost exactly on board our line of view.
One of these wonders Edge-on is NGC 5907 in Draco. It is a CA SA (S) galaxy, sometimes called the Splinter galaxy or galaxy of the edge of the knife. It is located a short distance from M102 (NGC 5866), a smaller galaxy which is also, by coincidence, oriented almost exactly on board.
NGC 5907 is relatively large and bright, shining with magnitude 11.1 and extends for 12.7 ‘of 1.4’. It is located about 53.5 million light years away.
This galaxy is a prototype “deformed spiral”. In 2006 a team of astronomers announced the detection of a vast tide flow of material surrounding the galaxy, with the proof of an warp on the disc.
NGC 5907 has an abnormal metallicity and a small number of giant stars. This galaxy is almost entirely composed of dwarf stars and its formation of stars is rather dormant.
The galaxy produced a recorded supernova: SN 1940a, which reached the peak of magnitude 14.3.
