NGC 6946 and NGC 6939 – Fireworks Galaxy and open cluster
NGC 6946, known as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy undergoing intense star formation. It has an apparent magnitude of 8.88, an apparent size of 11.4 × 10.8 arcminutes, and lies at an approximate distance of 22 million light-years from Earth. Also visible in the same field is NGC 6939, an open cluster with an apparent magnitude of +7.80, an apparent size of 10 arcminutes, and an approximate distance of 5,900 light-years.
General information
- Constellation
- Cepheus / Cygnus
- Category
- Galaxies
- Date
- 31 July 2022
Capture
- Total time
- 4h 40min
- Subframes
- 240s (CLS: 13x) bin1; 240s (R: 4x, G: 4x, B: 4x) bin2; 360s (CLS: 18x) bin1; 360s (R: 4x, G: 4x, B: 4x) bin2
- Gain / Offset
- 125 / N/A
- Calibration
- N/A
Equipment
- Telescope
- TS102 f/5.6
- Camera
- ZWO ASI294MM at -5 °C
- Filters
- Ha, CLS, R, G and B Astronomik
- Mount
- Sky-Watcher HEQ-5 Pro belt drive
- Guiding
- PHD2, Guide scope 60mm/f4 + ASI224MC
Processing and environment
- Processing
- Pre-processing, stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.8.9
- Acquisition
- NINA
- Location
- l'Ampolla, Tarragona
- Sky
- Bortle 4