View source for NGC 5907

{{Short description|Galaxy in the constellation Draco}}
{{Infobox Galaxy
| name = [[New General Catalogue|NGC]] 5907
| image = File:Ngc5907 stellar stream.jpg
| caption = NGC 5907 and stellar stream
| epoch = J2000
| ra = {{RA|15|15|53.2397}}<ref name="ned">{{cite web
  | website = NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
  | publisher = [[NASA]] and [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]]
  | title = Results for object NGC 5907
  | url = https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objname=NGC+5907
  | access-date = 2010-07-11}}</ref>
| dec = {{DEC|+56|19|47.568}}<ref name="ned"/>
| constellation name = [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]]
| z = 0.002218<ref name=ned/>
| h_radial_v = {{nowrap|665 ± 1 [[Metre per second|km/s]]}}<ref name=ned/>
| dist_ly = {{convert|14.275 ± 0.543|Mpc|Mly|abbr=on|lk=on|order=flip}}<ref name=ned-dist>{{cite web
  |title=Distance Results for NGC 5907
  |work=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
  |url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nDistance?name=NGC+5907
  |access-date=2010-07-11}}</ref>
| group_cluster = NGC 5907 group (LGG 396)
| type = SA(s)c? edge-on<ref name=ned/>
| size = ~{{convert|53.15|kpc|ly|abbr=on|lk=on|order=flip}} (estimated){{r|ned}}
| appmag_v = 11.1<ref name=ned/>
| size_v = {{Val|12.7|×|1.4|u=arcminute}}{{r|ned}}
| notes =
| names = {{odlist | name2= HOLM 704A | IRAS= 15146+5629 | CGCG= 274-038 | name=Splinter Galaxy | NGC= 5906 | UGC= 9801 | PGC= 54470 | MCG= +09-25-040}}<ref name=ned/>
|sbrightness=23.6 mag/arcsec<sup>2</sup><ref>{{Cite web |title=NGC 5907 - Intermediate Spiral Galaxy in Draco 
  |url=https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ngc5907-object
  |access-date=2025-05-12 
  |website=theskylive.com}}</ref>}}'''NGC 5907''' (also known as '''NGC 5906''', '''Knife Edge Galaxy''', or '''Splinter Galaxy''') is a [[spiral galaxy]] located approximately 46.5 million [[light year]]s from [[Earth]].<ref name=ned-dist/> German-British astronomer [[William Herschel]] discovered the galaxy on 5 May 1788.<ref name="selig">{{cite web | url = https://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc59.htm#5907 | title = New General Catalogue Objects: NGC{{nbsp}}5907 | last = Seligman | first = Courtney | website = Celestial Atlas | access-date = 2 January 2025}}</ref> Its most notable features are its large [[stellar stream]] and [[ultraluminous X-ray source]].

== Characteristics ==
NGC 5907 has an anomalously low [[metallicity]] and few detectable [[giant stars]], being apparently composed almost entirely of [[dwarf star]]s.<ref>{{cite journal| bibcode=1998AAS...193.0807L| title= Weighing the Stellar Content of NGC 5907's Dark Matter Halo| last=Liu| first= M. C.|author2=Marleau, F. R. |author3=Graham, J. R. |author4=Charlot, S. |author5=Sackett, P. |author6= Zepf, S. E. | journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society| volume= 30| pages=1258|date=December 1998}}</ref> 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. In 1998, a faint ring structure, likely caused by a disrupted [[dwarf spheroidal galaxy]], was first observed around the galaxy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shang |first1=Zhaohui |last2=Zheng |first2=Zhongyuan |last3=Brinks |first3=Elias |last4=Chen |first4=Jiansheng |last5=Burstein |first5=David |last6=Su |first6=Hongjun |last7=Byun |first7=Yong-ik |last8=Deng |first8=Licai |last9=Deng |first9=Zugan |last10=Fan |first10=Xiaohui |last11=Jiang |first11=Zhaoji |last12=Li |first12=Yong |last13=Lin |first13=Weipeng |last14=Ma |first14=Feng |last15=Sun |first15=Wei-hsin |date=1998-07-27 |title=Ring Structure and Warp of NGC 5907: Interaction with Dwarf Galaxies* |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/311563 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=504 |issue=1 |pages=L23 |doi=10.1086/311563 |arxiv=astro-ph/9806395 |bibcode=1998ApJ...504L..23S |issn=0004-637X}}</ref> This challenged the assumption of isolation and suggests the gravitational perturbations induced by the stream progenitor may be the cause for the warp. Then, in 2008, an international team of astronomers announced the presence of an extended double loop tidal stream coiling around the galaxy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martínez-Delgado |first1=David |last2=Peñarrubia |first2=Jorge |last3=Gabany |first3=R. Jay |last4=Trujillo |first4=Ignacio |last5=Majewski |first5=Steven R. |last6=Pohlen |first6=M. |date=December 2008 |title=The Ghost of a Dwarf Galaxy: Fossils of the Hierarchical Formation of the Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 5907 |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008ApJ...689..184M/abstract |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=689 |issue=1 |pages=184–193 |doi=10.1086/592555 |arxiv=0805.1137 |bibcode=2008ApJ...689..184M |issn=0004-637X}}</ref> The existence of part of these tidal streams has been recently challenged by some deeper surveys, which show only a single knee-shaped stream as opposed to the full double loop structure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Müller |first1=Oliver |last2=Vudragović |first2=Ana |last3=Bílek |first3=Michal |date=2019-12-01 |title=Hunting ghosts: the iconic stellar stream(s) around NGC 5907 under scrutiny |url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2019/12/aa37077-19/aa37077-19.html |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |language=en |volume=632 |pages=L13 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201937077 |arxiv=1911.12577 |bibcode=2019A&A...632L..13M |issn=0004-6361}}</ref> This shorter stream has a length of 45′ in the sky (or a physical size of 220 kpc) and has a surface brightness ranging from 27.6 mag/arcsec<sup>2</sup> at its brightest to 28.8 at its faintest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Dokkum |first1=Pieter |last2=Gilhuly |first2=Colleen |last3=Bonaca |first3=Ana |last4=Merritt |first4=Allison |last5=Danieli |first5=Shany |last6=Lokhorst |first6=Deborah |last7=Abraham |first7=Roberto |last8=Conroy |first8=Charlie |last9=Greco |first9=Johnny P. |date=September 2019 |title=Dragonfly Imaging of the Galaxy NGC 5907: A Different View of the Iconic Stellar Stream |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters |language=en |volume=883 |issue=2 |pages=L32 |arxiv=1906.11260 |bibcode=2019ApJ...883L..32V |doi=10.3847/2041-8213/ab40c9 |issn=2041-8205 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

An [[ultraluminous X-ray source]], [[NGC 5907 ULX-1]], is located in the galaxy.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal| doi=10.1126/science.aai8635 | title= An accreting pulsar with extreme properties drives an ultraluminous x-ray source in NGC 5907| first1=Gian Luca|last1=Israel|first2=Andrea|last2=Belfiore|first3=Luigi|last3=Stella|first4=Paolo|last4=Esposito|first5=Piergiorgio|last5=Casella|first6=Andrea|last6=De Luca|first7=Martino|last7=Marelli|first8=Alessandro|last8=Papitto|first9=Matteo|last9=Perri|first10=Simonetta|last10=Puccetti|first11=Guillermo A.|last11=Rodríguez Castillo|first12=David|last12=Salvetti|first13=Andrea|last13=Tiengo|first14=Luca|last14=Zampieri|first15=Daniele|last15=D’Agostino|first16=Jochen|last16=Greiner|first17=Frank|last17=Haberl|first18=Giovanni|last18=Novara|first19=Ruben|last19=Salvaterra|first20=Roberto|last20=Turolla|first21=Mike|last21=Watson|first22=Joern|last22=Wilms|first23=Anna|last23=Wolter|arxiv=1609.07375|journal=Science|volume=355|issue=6327|pages=817–819|date=24 Feb 2017| pmid= 28219970| bibcode= 2017Sci...355..817I| s2cid= 206653306}}</ref> This source is also called an ultraluminous X-ray pulsar (ULXP) because it exhibits a rapid pulsation effect. This pulsation has a period of 5.7 days and is caused by a rotating [[neutron star]] orbiting a [[X-ray binary|high mass companion]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Belfiore |first1=Andrea |last2=Salvaterra |first2=Ruben |last3=Sidoli |first3=Lara |last4=Israel |first4=Gian Luca |last5=Stella |first5=Luigi |last6=De Luca |first6=Andrea |last7=Mereghetti |first7=Sandro |last8=Esposito |first8=Paolo |last9=Pintore |first9=Fabio |last10=D'Aì |first10=Antonino |last11=Rodrìguez Castillo |first11=Guillermo |last12=Walton |first12=Dominic J. |last13=Fürst |first13=Felix |last14=Magistrali |first14=Danilo |last15=Wolter |first15=Anna |date=2024-04-10 |title=The Orbit of NGC 5907 ULX-1 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=965 |issue=1 |pages=78 |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/ad320a |doi-access=free |arxiv=2405.04574 |bibcode=2024ApJ...965...78B |issn=0004-637X}}</ref> The neutron star itself has a spin period of 1.13 seconds and seems to be accelerating; its period ten years prior was 1.43 seconds.<ref name=":0" /> It is one of the brightest such source yet discovered with a luminosity over 10<sup>41</sup> erg/s (7 orders of magnitude more luminous than the Sun).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miura |first1=Daiki |last2=Kobayashi |first2=Shogo B. |last3=Yamaguchi |first3=Hiroya |date=2024-06-20 |title=Phase-dependent Spectral Shape Changes in the Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar NGC 5907 ULX1 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=968 |issue=2 |pages=95 |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/ad4451 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2404.19300 |bibcode=2024ApJ...968...95M |issn=0004-637X}}</ref> Notably, its peak luminosity is over 1000 times greater than the [[Eddington luminosity]] for a neutron star.<ref name=":0" />

NGC 5907 and the galaxy '''[[KUG 1513+566]]''' are listed together as '''[[Holm 704]]''' in [[Erik Holmberg (astronomer)|Erik Holmberg's]] ''A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems'', published in 1937.<ref>{{cite journal | bibcode=1937AnLun...6....1H | title=A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems | last1=Holmberg | first1=Erik | journal=Annals of the Observatory of Lund | date=1937 | volume=6 | page=1 }}</ref>

==NGC 5907 group==
NGC 5907 is part of a group of galaxies that bears its name. The NGC 5907 group (also known as [[Lyons Groups of Galaxies|LGG]] 396) has at least four members, including [[Messier 102]], [[NGC 5879]], and UGC 9776.<ref>{{cite journal | bibcode=1993A&AS..100...47G | title=General study of group membership. II. Determination of nearby groups | last1=Garcia | first1=A. M. | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series | date=1993 | volume=100 | page=47}}</ref>

==Supernova==
One [[supernova]] has been observed in NGC 5907:  SN 1940A ([[Type II supernova#Light_curves_for_Type_II-L_and_Type_II-P_supernovae|type II-L]], mag 14.3) was discovered by Josef J. Johnson on 16 February 1940.<ref>{{cite journal | bibcode=1940PASP...52..146H | title=A Supernova in NGC 5907 | last1=Humason | first1=M. L. | last2=Minkowski | first2=R. | journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific | date=1940 | volume=52 | issue=306 | page=146 | doi=10.1086/125149 | doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=list>{{cite journal | bibcode=1999A&AS..139..531B |title=The Asiago Supernova Catalogue - 10 years after |last1=Barbon |first1=R. |last2=Buondí |first2=V. |last3=Cappellaro |first3=E. |last4=Turatto |first4=M. |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series |date=1999 |volume=139 |issue=3 |page=531 |doi=10.1051/aas:1999404 |arxiv=astro-ph/9908046 | doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | website=Transient Name Server | title=SN{{nbsp}}1940A | url=https://www.wis-tns.org/object/1940A | publisher = [[International Astronomical Union|IAU]] | access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref>

== Location==
[[File:NGC_5907-starmap.png|480px]]
:The edge-on galaxy is seen in the constellation Draco, near the star [[iota Draconis]]. It is seen in the sky near to the much more distant galaxy [[NGC 5965]].

==NGC Identification==
NGC 5907 is also known as NGC 5906.<ref name=selig /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Your NED Search Results|url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=NGC%205907&extend=no&hconst=73&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA%20or%20Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES|access-date=2020-06-26|website=ned.ipac.caltech.edu}}</ref> This second NGC number refers to a fainter part of the galaxy<ref name=selig /> lying west of the dust lane<ref name=":1" /> that was recorded by astronomer and physicist [[George Johnstone Stoney]] on April 13, 1850.<ref name=selig />

== Gallery==
<gallery>
NGC5907_-_HST_-_Judy_Schmidt.png|Spiral galaxy NGC 5907, by [[Hubble Space Telescope|HST]].
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{WikiSky}}
* [http://www.cosmotography.com/images/small_ring_ngc5907.html Ghost of a Dwarf Galaxy] (Fossils of the Hierarchical Formation of the Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 5907)
* [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080619.html Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 5907] (2008 June 19 )
* [https://arxiv.org/abs/0805.1137 Fossils of the Hierarchical Formation of the Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC5907] (arXiv:0805.1137)
* [http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n5907.html SEDS] – NGC 5907
* [https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2019/12/aa37077-19/aa37077-19.html Hunting ghosts] Hunting ghosts: the iconic stellar stream(s) around NGC 5907 under scrutiny

{{Sky|15|15|53.2397|+|56|19|47.568|3900000}}
{{NGC objects:5500-5999}}
{{Draco (constellation)}}
{{Catalogs|NGC=5907}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 5907}}
[[Category:NGC objects|5907]]
[[Category:Draco (constellation)]]
[[Category:NGC 5866 Group]]
[[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1788|17880505]]
[[Category:Principal Galaxies Catalogue objects|054470]]
[[Category:UGC objects|09801]]
[[Category:Unbarred spiral galaxies]]
[[Category:Discoveries by William Herschel]]
[[Category:IRAS catalogue objects|15146+5629]]
[[Category:MCG objects|+09-25-040]]