NGC5907 “Splinter Galaxy”
May 17, 2020
This is the “First Light” of the first Merlino. It is the sum of 10 Luminance frame of 1200 sec. each. The telescope was the GSO and the ATIK-one the CCD. for a total exposition time of 3hr 20m.
NGC 5907 (also known as Knife Edge Galaxy or Splinter Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 50 million light years from Earth. It has an anomalously low metallicity and few detectable giant stars, being apparently composed almost entirely of dwarf stars. 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 2006, an international team of astronomers announced the presence of an extended tidal stream surrounding the galaxy (see picture left below) that challenges this picture and suggests the gravitational perturbations induced by the stream progenitor may be the cause for the warp (Wikipedia).
