Using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured galaxy known as NGC 5907 that lies about 50 million light-years away from earth, lying in the northern constellation of Draco.
The galaxy appears an elongated line of stars and dark dust and categorized as a spiral galaxy just like our own Milky Way.
In the image captured by Hubble, we can’t see the beautiful spiral arms because we are viewing it edge-on, like looking at the rim of a plate. Hence, NGC 5907 is also known as the Knife Edge Galaxy.
Originally discovered on May 5, 1788, by the German-born British astronomer William Herschel, the Knife Edge galaxy is also known as LEDA 54470, UGC 9801, the Knife Edge Galaxy and the Splinter Galaxy, it has a diameter of 150,000 light-years.
Hubble astronomers noted, “Although not visible in this image, ghostly streams of stars on large arching loops extend into space, circling the galaxy. They are believed to be remnants of a small dwarf galaxy, torn apart by NGC 5907, and merged with it over 4 billion years ago.”