Fireworks Galaxy

NGC 6946, also called the fireworks galaxy, is a beautiful face-on spiral galaxy located 25 million light years away between Cygnus and Cepheus. In the northern hemisphere summer, this object is located quite high in the sky and is visible almost all night from March through September. It does have a relatively low surface brightness, making the galaxy very hard to spot without a telescope in dark skies. The galaxy gets its name from how many supernovae have been observed within it over the last century. As a result, the galaxy features numerous large supernova remnants and bubbles of hydrogen gas, which are also contributing to active star formation. NGC 6946 is seen here in LRGB with combined CMOS and CCD data from the big officina stellare 700 RC.