The Integral Sign Galaxy (PGC 20348, UGC 3697, MCG 12-7-28, ) is a tiny, faint, very thin edge-on galaxy in Camelopardalis. It is a strongly warped spiral galaxy.
Many mechanisms have been proposed to explain the origin of warps, such as tidal disturbances by nearby galaxies, gravitational torques from misaligned halos, accretion of the intergalactic medium, and bending instability of self-gravitating disks. More than half of spiral galaxies have warped disks, but the Integral sign galaxy is considered a strongly warped galaxy, which is less common. PGC 20348 is a late type spiral galaxy (Sd) which has two companions of comparable masses (PGC 20362 and PGC 20398).
It is a challenging object to find and view. It is about half way between galaxy M81 and open star cluster NGC 1502 (Jolly Roger cluster, which is at the beginning/end of Kemble's Cascade). It lies closely between two 6-7th magnitude stars, HIP 34956/SAO 6115 and HIP 34513/SAO 6092, , about 18 degrees from Polaris.
Edge-on Spiral Galaxy
PGS 20348, UGC 3697
RA: 07h11m22.55s, Dec: +71°50'10.9" (2000) in Camelopardalis
Magnitude: 13.10
Size: 3.2'x 0.4'
Redshift (z): 0.010487 (approx 150 MLY)
Mean Surface Br. 23.4 Mag/arc-sec²
P.S. It really is not an integral sign. No matter how you rotate the image, it is always facing the wrong way. So it is actually the rotation and flip (reflection) of the integral sign.
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