NGC 891: an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy in Andromeda

Cross-identifications:

LEDA 9031, MCG+07-05-046, UGC 1831, Caldwell 23, Silver Sliver Galaxy

The galaxy NGC 891 is a nearby analog to the MilkyWay in terms of luminosity, color, and morphology with an apparent diameter of 40 kpc, and a rotation velocity of about 210 kms−1 (Oosterloo et al. 2007). Due to its proximity of 9.6 Mpc and its edge-on orientation (van der Kruit & Searle 1981), NGC 891 is one of the most observed and well-studied galaxies of the Local Universe. One of the reasons that this particular region of interest was extensively observed is because it hosts the supernova SN 1986J, discovered on August 21, 1986. Like the Milky Way NGC 891 reveals a general pattern of a magnetic field lying mostly in the plane (Montgomery & Clemens 2014). Popescu et al. (2000) proposed a multicomponent dust distribution model for edge-on disk galaxy NGC 891, which is composed of a bulge, a thick disk associated with diffuse dust and old stellar populations, and a thin disk associated with clumpy dust and newly formed stars. The halo of NGC 891 is known to contain slower rotating massive HI halo up to altitudes greater than 4 kpc from the disk (Swaters et al. 1997; Rand et al. 1990; Oosterloo et al. 2007).

Charts and image details obtained from Astrometry.net

Image and FOV details

RC 16" Astrograph (IRIDA South dome)

Imaging details