Splinter Galaxy
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.
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". 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.
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. No. 87 in the RASC Finest NGC Objects list.
Last Modification: 29 Mar 1998, 12:35 MET