The galaxy known
as NGC 5907 stretches wide across this image. Appearing as an elongated line of
stars and dark dust, the galaxy is categorized as a spiral
galaxy just like our own Milky Way. In this new image from the
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, we don’t see the beautiful spiral arms because
we are viewing it edge-on, like looking at the rim of a plate. It is for this
reason that NGC 5907 is also known as the Knife Edge galaxy.
The Knife Edge galaxy is about 50 million light-years
from Earth, lying in the northern constellation of Draco. Although not
visible in this image, ghostly streams of stars on large arching loops extend
into space, circling around the galaxy; they are believed to be remnants of a
small dwarf galaxy, torn apart by the Knife Edge galaxy and merged with it
over 4 billion years ago.
Source: NASA
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. de Jong;
Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
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