NGC 5907

Spiral galaxy NGC 5907 (= H II.759), type Sb+, in Draco

Splinter Galaxy

[NGC 5907, John Sefick]
Right Ascension 15 : 15.9 (h:m)
Declination +56 : 19 (deg:m)
Distance 40,000.0 (kly)
Visual Brightness 10.38 (mag)
Apparent Dimension 12.3 x 1.8 (arc min)

Discovered 1788 by William Herschel.

Besides M102 candidate NGC 5866, this is the second prominent member of the NGC 5866 group. As it is seen almost exactly edge-on, and is an extremely flat disc, it appears extremely elongated, shaped like a "knife edge" or a splinter, therefore its popular name.

William Herschel discovered this galaxy together with NGC 5866 and several fainter galaxies in this celestial area on May 5, 1788, and cataloged it as H II.759.

Supernova 1940A, which was discovered by Johnson, occurred in NGC 5907 on February 16, 1940 and reached magnitude 14.3 (see PASP 52, 146).

Image by John Sefick, taken with a 25-inch Newton and a ST-6 CCD camera. View his photos of NGC 5907 and NGC 5866 side by side, or all his photos of NGC 5907.

  • More images of "Knife Edge" NGC 5907

    According to Michael Ferrio, the name Splinter Galaxy occurred in the Deep-Sky Wonders column. The small distinct part of the galaxy has the extra NGC number 5906.

    In the SAC 110 best NGC object list. In the RASC's Finest N.G.C. Objects Objects list.

  • The East Valley Astronopmy Club (EVAC) has selected NGC 5907 as Deep Sky Object of the Month May 1999.

  • NED data of NGC 5907
  • SIMBAD Data of NGC 5907
  • Publications on NGC 5907 (NASA ADS)
  • Observing Reports for NGC 5907 (IAAC Netastrocatalog)
  • NGC Online data for NGC 5907

    Hartmut Frommert
    Christine Kronberg
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    Last Modification: September 21, 2006