page_title: NGC 6907
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: NGC 6907 / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: Galaxy NGC 6907 Deutsch: Galaxie NGC 6907 Français&#160;: Galaxie NGC 6907 Español: Galaxia NGC 6907 Italiano: Galassia NGC 6907
context_page_description: NGC 6907 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Capricornus. It is located at a distance of circa 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 6907 is about 115,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on July 12, 1784. The total infrared luminosity of the galaxy is 1011.03 L☉, and thus it is categorised as a luminous infrared galaxy.
context_section_description: NGC 6907 is a grand design spiral galaxy with two spiral arms. It has an elliptical bulge that is skewed towards the base of the arms. The inner arms are bright and with knots, forming a bar. There are dust lanes in the arms. The disk of NGC 6907 is asymmetric. The eastern arm changes pitch angle and becomes linear after the location of the nearby galaxy NGC 6908. The western arm is less strong, but it is considerably longer, as its outermost parts form an arc with HII regions, wrapping nearly 360 degrees around the disk and forming a pseudoring. NGC 6907 also has a tidal tail with low surface brightness. The asymmetric tail extends from the north part of the disk of the galaxy towards the west and southwest. Its presence is an indicator of an ongoing unequal mass merger. The total HI mass of NGC 6907 is estimated to be (8.3±0.4)×10⁹ M☉.
  NGC 6907 interacts with a low luminosity lenticular galaxy, known as NGC 6908, that is superimposed on the eastern arm of NGC 6907, lying 40 arcseconds off the nucleus of NGC 6907. NGC 6908 was thought for many years to be actually part of NGC 6907, which was described as having two massive asymmetric arms, however when observed in infrared, it becomes apparent NGC 6908 is a different galaxy. As NGC 6908 passed through the disk of NGC 6907, a stellar and gas bridge was formed between the two galaxies that has been observed as high velocity gas. It is estimated that NGC 6908 passed through the disk approximately 35 million years ago.
caption: NGC 6907 by 2MASS. NGC 6908 can be seen at the eastern arm.
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