Peculiarities
NGC 891 looks as we think the Milky Way would look like when viewed edge-on (some astronomers have even noted how similar look our galaxy as seen from the Southern Hemisphere and NGC 891) and in fact both galaxies are considered very similar in terms of luminosity and size; studies of the dynamics of its molecular hydrogen have also proven the likely presence of a central bar. Despite this, recent high-resolution images of its dusty disk show unusual filamentary. These patterns are extending into the halo of the galaxy, away from its galactic disk. Scientists presume that supernova explosions caused this interstellar dust to be thrown out of the galactic disk toward the halo.
It may also be possible that the light pressure from surrounding stars causes this phenomenon.
The galaxy is a member of a small group of galaxies, sometimes called the NGC 1023 Group. Other galaxies in this group are the 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 outskirts are populated by multiple low-surface brightness, coherent, and vast substructures, like giant streams that loop around the parent galaxy up to distances of approximately 50 kpc. The bulge and the disk are surrounded by a flat and thick cocoon-like stellar structure. These have vertical and radial distances of up to 15 kpc and 40 kpc, respectively and are interpreted as the remmant of a satellite galaxy disrupted and in the process of being absorbed by NGC 891
.
Read more about this topic: NGC 891