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> Spiral Galaxy NGC 6946 and Open Cluster NGC 6939

Spiral Galaxy NGC 6946 and Open Cluster NGC 6939

author: J.Lodriguss/Novapix

reference: a-aou69-39002

Image Size 300 DPI: 30 * 20 cm

Spiral Galaxy NGC 6946 and Open Cluster NGC 6939 are located about 2 degrees southwest of Eta Cepheus. 6946 is a 9.7 magnitude spiral galaxy that was discovered by William Herschel on September 9, 1798 and is about 10 arc minutes in diameter. It is a relatively close galaxy at a distance of about 10 million light years, and was once suspected by Edwin Hubble of being a member of the Local Group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way, but today it is not believed to be a member. Because we are looking at it through the plane of our own galaxy, it is highly obscured by dust. NGC 6946 is sometimes called the Fireworks galaxy because of the number of supernovae that have been discovered there and the galaxy's prodigious rate of star formation. By contrast, open cluster NGC 6939, seen about 40 arc minutes northwest of NGC 6946, is located inside of our own galaxy at a distance of approximately 36 light years. It is just by coincidence that these two objects lie close to each other in the same line of sight.

Keywords for this photo:

2006 - ASTRONOMY - CEPHEUS - GALAXY - NGC 6939 - NGC 6946 - OPEN CLUSTER - SPIRAL GALAXY - STAR - STAR CLUSTER - STAR FORMATION -