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| June - NGC 5907 - The Splinter Galaxy |
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NGC 5907 as it might appear in a 10-inch reflector Known as the Knife Edge or Splinter Galaxy, NGC 5907 is a mag. 10.4 edge-on spiral galaxy located approximately 39 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1788 and consists primarily of dwarf stars and has few if any giant stars. It also contains supernova 1940A.
This intriguing galaxy is a warped spiral and for a long time nobody knew why. Recently, a looping stellar stream was spotted surrounding the galaxy and is the likely cause of the slight warp. The origin of this stellar stream and how it formed are still mysteries. Suffice it to say, this faint looping will not show up visually or in most astrophotos.
Observations/Drawings/Photos Roger Ivester: LVAS Member from North Carolina
The Observers Challenge for June is NGC 5907 in Draco. A beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy with a dimension of 12' x 1'.8 at mag. 10.4, but is seldom observed by many amateurs. I first observed this galaxy in the summer of 1992, and it immediately became one of my favorites. The galaxy appears a bit fainter than the cataloged magnitude.
All observations were made from my moderately light-polluted backyard in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. The telescope used was a 10” f/4.5 reflector, with a magnification of 114X.
Click on image for larger view
The galaxy is presented as faint streak of light, with a brighter more concentrated middle. On some of my notes, a slight bulge is indicated, but on other observations this feature is not mentioned. The surface brightness is fairly low, however, on a good night, 200X is possible with the 10”, bringing out subtle detail. A faint star can be seen just off the west edge of the core and another at mag. 14 is visible very close to the NE tip. The galaxy has a very even and smooth texture. The dust lane has been reported with larger telescopes.
Fred Rayworth: LVAS Member from Las Vegas
I had two opportunities to look at this great galaxy. Once in May, and the other in June. I saw it both times from Redstone Picnic Area on the north shore road of Lake Mead, Nevada. On May 15, 2010, what started as a bad night (clouds moving in before sunset) opened up after dark and became the best observing night of 2010, so far. The sky was pristine, at least wherever I looked. There was no wind and I remained in a T-shirt the whole night.
Upon a return visit on 05 June, 2010, the skies weren’t quite as nice, there was an erratic breeze blowing, and I was tired the moment I got there. Still, I had a great time and had a chance to try a new 4.7mm eyepiece (390X) on it.
It was a nice thick streak at 70X. At 101X, I could see some darkening in the middle. At 220X, the darkening in the middle was a bit lumpy and mottled. At 390X, it was washed out but I could still see mottling. However, at that magnification, the dark lane was much less distinct. In fact, I only saw the dark lane, barely, at 101X and a bit better at 220X. In all cases, the core blended in with the rest of the streak and I saw no distinct concentrated brightening. The core was a broad area that covered about two thirds of the streak. There was just the slightest thickening in the middle but it was not a real bulge like I would have expected for an edge-on galaxy.
Click on image for larger view
The first time out last month, I spotted numerous stars in and around it. There was a bright one a bit off from the central core on one side. On the other side, I spotted a fainter star off toward the outer edge while in the middle there were several spots that may have been stars near the central area. The one by the outer edge was the first in a jagged line of stars that strung out from the galaxy.
When I went out in June, most of the details were the same except I never noticed the star patterns. Overall, the galaxy was a bit washed out.
Rob Lambert: LVAS Member from Las Vegas
NGC 5907 certainly lives up to its nickname, the Splinter Galaxy. It definitely looks like a splinter and so much so that it reminds me of many that I've pulled out of my fingers. It also reminds me of the round toothpicks that are typically used with finger food hors d’œurves.
I wasn’t able to observe NGC 5907 through my LX200GPS to get a closer perspective. I made a tactical error in only taking my ST120 to the Redstone observing area just outside of Las Vegas the weekend before the new moon weekend in June. I had hoped to be able to view it again while at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but both nights that I was able to observe while there, clouds moved in shortly after the public departed and obscured the part of the sky where NGC 5907 was located.
Click on image for larger view
At approximately 50X, the Splinter Galaxy displays a small bright core with an elongated edge-on disk. At this magnification, there was no visible halo and no significant detail in the disk. Other than the bright core, the galaxy appears to be uniform in density throughout its length. The disk tapers gradually from the slightly wider core to a fine point at both ends. The galaxy seems to be threading its way through a sea of 13 and 14 magnitude stars. It seems to have created a narrow swath of dark sky in its wake between the stars to its northwest (toward the top right corner), as it moved along its southeast course. I hope to be able to observe NGC 5907 again during the next New Moon at greater magnification since it appears that it will hold higher magnification.
Jim Gianoulakis: LVAS Member from Las Vegas
The spiral galaxy NGC 5907, sometimes known as the "Splinter Galaxy" because of its unusual appearance, is located in the constellation Draco. It is fairly bright, and appears elongated because it has an edge-on alignment when viewed from Earth. It also has a strong set of dust lanes. The central lane is so pronounced at visible light wavelengths, where it blocks our view of the starlight, that the galaxy was once mistaken for two objects and given two entries in the original New General Catalogue.
Click on image for larger view
This image is composed of a stack of 20 light frames and 32 dark frames combined and stacked using DeepSkyStacker. Levels and curves applied in Photoshop.
Frank Barrett: LVAS Friend from North Carolina (www.celestialwonders.com)
NGC 5907 is a very beautiful galaxy. The core glows with a bright amber-gold hue and is somewhat subdued by well-defined dust lanes. Although the galaxy is edge on to our view, the magenta-blue arms which accent the outer portions imply a spiral structure to me. Total exposure time was over 7 hrs with about 5.5 hrs on the monochrome (luminance) alone.
Click on image for larger view
The dark period in April was very kind to me and as a result, there are a few more celestial gems to view on my website. I don't even want to calculate the total number of hours I've invested in this past month alone, both in acquisition and processing. I am just now getting caught up on my sleep! All in all, I think it was good fun.
Buddy L. Barbee: LVAS Friend from North Carolina
This observation was made Thursday, May 6th, 2010 while at the Mt. Airy Granite overlook, on the Blue Ridge Parkway near mile post 203. I was using an Orion XT-10i, Dobsonian and a Tele-Vue 10mm Radian eyepiece for a magnification of 120X. The night was about average in seeing and transparency, with low winds and humidity.
Click on image for larger view
This galaxy is large and dim, but easily seen as a visible streak of gray light with direct vision. There is no central condensation or bulge visible. The dimensions are approximately 10' in length by 1' in width for the entire length of the galaxy. This galaxy is certainly a very interesting object, with its lack of detail and homogenous milky glow. There is a mag. 14 star visible just west of the galaxy near the middle or core.
Other Notable Observations
The Night Sky Observer’s Guide, Vol 2, Spring & Summer, George Robert Kepple and Glen W. Sanner In 4" to 6" scopes, it is a faint shaft of elongated light. In 8" to 10" scopes, moderately faint and has an extended core. The eastern edge is better defined. In 16" to 18" scopes, core is slightly elongated. A faint dark dust lane extends along the west side except where it is drowned out by the core's light.
Observing Handbook and Catalogue Of Deep-Sky Objects, by Christian Luginbuhl and Brian Skiff, Cambridge University Press Visible in 15cm (6”) as a streak with vague hints of detail in the core. In 25cm (10”) it extends further. The middle parts around the elongated core don't bulge. In 30cm (12”) the halo is brightening evenly through the core. No nucleus stands out.
James Mullaney, Celestial Harvest: 300-Plus Showpieces of the Heavens for Telescope Viewing and Contemplation Spinter Galaxy: A well-named but seldom-observed wonder. "Long thin streak." Needs dark night and at least 6” to fully appreciate. Other galaxies lie nearby, including mag. 11 EG NGC-5982 - just 7' N. |
