Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946 (Hubble)

NGC 6946 · galaxy

Fireworks Galaxy

NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a grand design, face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus.

RA20h 34m 52sDec+60° 09' 14"

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA.

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Identity & coordinates

Identification

Primary designation
NGC 6946
All designations
NGC 6946 · Fireworks
Object type
Galaxy
Constellation
Cepheus
Best viewing
Autumn · Winter

Coordinates & physical

Right ascension (J2000)
20h 34m 52s
Declination (J2000)
+60° 09' 14"
Apparent magnitude (V)
Distance
Redshift (z)
0.000133
III

Visibility tonight

V

The science

NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a grand design, face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years or 7.72 megaparsecs, similar to the distance of M101 in the constellation Ursa Major. Both were once considered to be part of the Local Group, but are now known to be among the dozen bright spiral galaxies near the Milky Way but beyond the confines of the Local Group. NGC 6946 lies within the Virgo Supercluster.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA-4.0

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References

Wikipedia title resolved via common_name+suffix — added the type suffix to the seed common name.

1 merge conflict resolved
  • coordinates: SIMBAD missing → NED used