Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2025 July 4
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                            NGC 6946 and NGC 6939
              Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Alberto Pisabarro

   Explanation: Face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 and open star cluster NGC
   6939 share [5]this cosmic snapshot, composed with over 68 hours of
   image data captured with a small telescope on planet Earth. The field
   of view spans spans about 1 degree or 2 full moons on the sky toward
   the northern constellation [6]Cepheus. Seen through faint interstellar
   dust clouds near the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the stars of
   [7]open cluster NGC 6939 are 5,600 light-years in the distance, near
   bottom right in the frame. Face-on spiral [8]galaxy NGC 6946 is at top
   left, but lies some 22 million light-years away. In the last 100 years,
   10 supernovae have been discovered [9]in NGC 6946, the latest one seen
   [10]in 2017. By comparison, the average rate of supernovae in our Milky
   Way is about 1 [11]every 100 years or so. Of course, NGC 6946 is also
   known as [12]The Fireworks Galaxy.

                       Tomorrow's picture: squid game
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply.
            [29]NASA Web Privacy, [30]Accessibility, [31]Notices;
                A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC,
                         [35]NASA Science Activation
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2507/N6946N6939pisabarro.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.loscoloresinvisibles.com/
   5. https://www.loscoloresinvisibles.com/galeria?pgid=jze435g7-3da3d0a5-12a2-492f-ac8e-9aad9c85c01d
   6. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cep/
   7. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022AJ....163..191K/abstract
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240726.html
   9. https://rochesterastronomy.org/sn2017/sn2017eaw.html
  10. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/possible-bright-supernova-discovered-in-fireworks-galaxy-ngc-6946/
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/trigger-for-milky-way-s-youngest-supernova-identified.html
  12. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/fireworks-galaxy-ngc6946.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250703.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250704
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250705.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/