#arp 29

[therealuniverse]

FIREWORKS GALAXY The Fireworks Galaxy, also known as NGC 6946, Arp 29, or Caldwell 12, is located 10 million light years away, on the border between the constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. It is nearly 40,000 light years across and was discovered by William Herschel on September 9, 1798.

On Earth we see NGC 6946, a SAB-type intermediate spiral galaxy, nearly face on. It is obscured by interstellar matter from the Milky Way galaxy, as it is quite close to the galactic plane. In this image, the colours of the galaxy indicate the type of stars. The old stars in the core are yellowish while the blue stars are young and in clusters; the red areas are star forming regions. The galaxy is bright in infrared and rich in gas and dust as it has a high star formation rate. A suggested explanation for this high rate is the recent accretion of many primordial low-mass neutral hydrogen clouds from the surrounding region. At least nine supernovae have been discovered within NGC6946 over the past 100 years; the average rate for supernovae in the Milky Way is about 1 per century. -TEL http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110101.html; http://www.astropix.com/ Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizon

[quiltofstars]

The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946 // Alessandro Bosinco

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The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946 // Terry Doran

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The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946 // SteveDSWM

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The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946, upper left) and NGC 6939 (bottom right) // Ciels de Suisse

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The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946 // Kevin Dunn

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The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946 // GALASSIA 60

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The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946, upper left) and NGC 6939 (lower right) // Alberto Pisabarro