Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6939  ·  NGC 6946
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Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946, Steven Bellavia
Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946
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Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946

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Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946, Steven Bellavia
Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946
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Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946

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Description

NGC 6939 (Cr 423, Mel 231), The Flying Geese Cluster, is an open cluster in the constellation Cepheus. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1798. The cluster appears close to the spiral galaxy NGC 6946. It is 3,860 light years away and it is over a billion years old.

NGC 6946 (C12, PGC 65001, UGC 11597, Arp 29) - The Fireworks Galaxy is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus. It is 25.2 million light years from Earth. Discovered by William Herschel on 9 September 1798, this well-studied galaxy has a diameter of approximately 40,000 light-years, about one-third of the Milky Way's size and it contains roughly half the number of stars as the Milky Way.

It is called the "Fireworks Galaxy" because it has an unusually high rate of supernovae production, with 10 discovered in the last 100 years, compared to our Milky Way galaxy, whose rate averages just one supernova event per century. This is the more remarkable as our Galaxy comprises twice as many stars

Both objects are in the constellation Cepheus, and appear as two patches of haze with small binoculars. Cluster NGC 6939 is included in the Herschel 400 Catalogue, and galaxy NGC 6946 is a Caldwell object, C12.

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Flying Geese Cluster, NGC 6939 and The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946, Steven Bellavia

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