Photo of the Day: Galactic Fireworks of Amazing Beauty
On the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s website, under the heading Picture of the Week, there is a mesmerizing snapshot of the spiral galaxy designated NGC 6946.
The named structure is also known as the Fireworks galaxy due to its characteristic shape. It is located in the constellation Cygnus at a distance of about 25 million light-years from us.
Ten supernova explosions have been recorded in the galaxy. The Fireworks Galaxy is approximately 40,000 light-years across. By comparison, our Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across.
The photograph clearly shows the spiral structure of NGC 6946. The galaxy was discovered by the famous British astronomer of German origin William Herschel back in 1798.
Below you can see a picture in high resolution – click to enlarge. We also add that NGC 6946 is included in the atlas of peculiar galaxies.
