NGC 891, a celestial masterpiece that offers a glimpse into what the Milky Way might look like when viewed edge-on. This stunning galaxy bears an uncanny resemblance to our own, from its luminosity and size to the probable presence of a central bar. And yet, it holds its own uniqueness, as recent high-resolution images have unveiled filamentary patterns extending from its dusty disk into the halo of the galaxy, creating a breathtaking display of interstellar dust thrown out of the galactic disk, most likely due to supernova explosions. Some scientists even speculate that the pressure of surrounding stars may contribute to this phenomenon.
NGC 891 is a distinguished member of the exclusive NGC 1023 Group, which comprises a small group of galaxies, including NGCs 925, 949, 959, 1003, 1023, and 1058, and the UGCs 1807, 1865 (DDO 19), 2014 (DDO 22), 2023 (DDO 25), 2034 (DDO 24), and 2259. Its surroundings are adorned with multiple low-surface brightness, coherent substructures, like giant streams that loop around the parent galaxy, stretching up to distances of approximately 50 kpc. The bulge and the disk of NGC 891 are surrounded by a flat and thick cocoon-like stellar structure, which has vertical and radial distances of up to 15 kpc and 40 kpc, respectively. This awe-inspiring structure is interpreted as the remnant of a satellite galaxy that was disrupted and is currently in the process of being absorbed by NGC 891.
