NGC 6946 The Fireworks Galaxy

Object: NGC 6946 The Fireworks Galaxy

NGC 6946, also known as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus. Its location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years.

Taken: August 16, 2020

Telescope: Astro-Tech 14 inch RC with Starizona Apex ED 0.65x reducer

Mount: Paramount ME II unguided

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MC-Pro (cooled to -10C; Gain: 200) Bin 1×1.

Focuser: Moonlite Nitecrawler

Rotator: Moonlite Nitecrawler

Guiding: Unguided

Filters used: None Used

Exposures: 70×120 seconds for a total exposure time of 2.333 hours; calibrated with 40 dark frames, 40 flat frames with 40 dark-flats.

Seeing Conditions:    3/5 Average. Bortle 5 region. Moon not visible.

Image capture and telescope control: Sequence Generator Pro and TheSkyX Pro with a SkyShed POD MAX observatory.

Processed with PixInsight, Photoshop CC 2024

Astrobin