NGC 6946 “Fireworks Galaxy”

NGC6946, the “Fireworks Galaxy,” lies between 10 and 20 million light-years away on the border between the constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus, and was discovered by Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) on September 9, 1798. It continues to fascinate astronomers, who estimate that it contains about half as many stars as the Milky Way. They often use it to study and characterize the evolution of massive stars and the properties of interstellar gas. As viewed in the new Gemini optical image, we see only the “tip of the iceberg” of this galaxy. Its optical angular diameter is about 13 arcminutes, but viewed at radio wavelength at the frequency of neutral hydrogen (1420 Mhz or 21-cm line), it extends considerably more than the angular diameter of the Moon. This Gemini North Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) image of NGC6946 utilizes a selective filter specifically designed to detect the radiation emanating from the starbirth regions. Additional filters help to distinguish other details in the galaxy, including clusters of massive blue stars, dust lanes, and a yellowish core where older more evolved stars dominate.

Credit:

International Gemini Observatory/Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage

About the Image

Id:noao-ngc6946
Type:Observation
Release date:June 30, 2020, 9:33 p.m.
Size:2392 x 2304 px

About the Object

Name:Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946
Constellation:Cygnus
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEGLarge JPEG
1.2 MB
Screensize JPEGScreensize JPEG
255.6 KB

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Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):20 34 52.32
Position (Dec):60° 9' 8.78"
Field of view:5.81 x 5.60 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 183.9° right of vertical


Colors & filters

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
g
475 nmGemini North
GMOS-N
Optical
r
630 nmGemini North
GMOS-N
Optical
i
780 nmGemini North
GMOS-N
Optical
H-alpha
655 nmGemini North
GMOS-N