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Credit & Copyright: Paolo Demaria
Explanation:
A cosmic snapshot from May 19,
this colorful telescopic field of view spans about 1 degree
or 2 full moons on the sky.
Spiky in appearance, foreground Milky Way stars are scattered
toward the royal constellation
Cepheus while stars
of open cluster NGC 6939 gather about 5 thousand light-years in the distance
near the top of the frame.
Face-on spiral
galaxy NGC 6946 is toward the lower left nearly
22 million light-years away.
The helpful red lines identify recently discovered
supernova
SN 2017eaw, the death explosion of a massive star nestled
in the galaxy's bluish spiral arms.
In fact
in the last 100 years, 10 supernovae have been discovered in NGC 6946.
By comparison, the average rate of supernovae in our Milky Way is about 1
every 100 years
or so.
Of course, NGC 6946 is also known as
The Fireworks Galaxy.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: NGC 6946 - star cluster - spiral galaxy - supernova
Publications with words: NGC 6946 - star cluster - spiral galaxy - supernova
See also:
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
- APOD: 2026 January 14 Á M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
- IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
- APOD: 2025 December 29 Á M1: The Crab Nebula
- NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
- APOD: 2025 November 5 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370 from Hubble
- APOD: 2025 October 8 Á NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula