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| NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (U. of Ariz./Inst. of Astr., U. of Cambridge) and the SINGS Team |
The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946)
NGC 6946, or "The Fireworks Galaxy", is one of about a dozen nearby neighbors to the Milky Way. It is located approximately 10 million light-years away in the Cepheus constellation. This image was captured as part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey (SINGS) Legacy Project using the telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC).
The "glowing" red emission reveals regions in the galaxy that are actively forming new stars. The blue dots sprinkled along this image are Milky Way stars along this line of sight.
The SINGS image is a four channel false color composite, where blue indicates emission at 3.6 microns, green corresponds to 4.5 microns, and red to 5.8 and 8.0 microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) in this picture has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8 micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features.
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| About the Object (1) | | Object name: | NGC 6946 | | Object type: | Spiral Galaxy | | Position (J2000): | RA: 20h 34m 52.00s Dec: 60° 9' 15.00" | | Distance: | 18 million light-years | | Constellation: | Cepheus and Cygnus |
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About the Data
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Spitzer Data
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| Image Credit: | NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (U. of Ariz./Inst. of Astr., U. of Cambridge) and the SINGS Team | | Instrument: | IRAC | | Wavelength: | 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8-8.0 (red) microns | | Release Date: | 2008/06/23 |
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Observers
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R. Kennicutt (U. of Ariz./Inst. of Astr., U. of Cambridge)
Lee Armus (Spitzer Science Center, Caltech)
Brent Buckalew (Caltech)
George Bendo (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
Daniela Calzetti (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Daniel Dale (University of Wyoming)
Bruce Draine (Princeton University)
Charles Engelbracht (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
Karl Gordon (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
George Helou (Caltech)
David Hollenbach (NASA Ames Research Center)
Thomas Jarrett (Caltech)
Lisa Kewley (University of Hawaii)
Claus Leitherer (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Aigen Li (University of Missouri-Columbia)
Sangeeta Malhotra (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Helene McLaughlin (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Martin Meyer (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Eric Murphy (Yale University)
Michael Regan (Space Telescope Science Institute)
George Rieke (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
Marcia Rieke (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
Helene Roussel (Spitzer Science Center, Caltech)
Kartik Sheth (Caltech)
John-David Smith (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
Michele D. Thornley (Bucknell University, Space Telescope Science Institute)
Fabian Walter (MPIA Heidelberg) |
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