FIREWORKS GALAXY
Fireworks Galaxy NGC-6946 Staffordshire, UK by Nigel Armitage in November / August 2026.
NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a Grand Design, face on spiral galaxy.
It is 25.2 million lightyears away from Earth.
To put that into context, in humanity’s fastest current spacecraft, it would take approximately 39.3 billion years to get there. The earth is only 4.5 billion years old.
It’s diameter is 87,300 light years across.
The fuzziness you see obscuring a clear view is interstellar matter from our own Milkyway due to the angle of the galaxy against our own being so shallow.
This piece of work contains 80 images, 4 hours of data.
It was taken in a Bortle 5 Sky.
The equipment used was:
Celestron Edge 9.25HD
ASI ZWO240MC Pro OSC
Optilong L Pro Filter
ZWO AM5
ASIAir Plus
Williams Optics 50mm Guide Scope
ASI ZWO 174mm Mini Guide Camera.
The image was processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop.
Cepheus Constellation Map. Credit: IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine
(Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg). License: CC 4