Spiral galaxy NGC 6946, also known as the Fireworks Galaxy, is about 22.5 million light-years away and lies on the border of constellations Cepheus and Cygnus. Open cluster 6939 (lower right) is approximately 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. The small, faint, vertical galaxy to the right of center at the bottom is cataloged as PGC 64824. Our line of sight in this direction crosses through dense foreground stars and dust regions on the edge of the Milky Way.

NGC 6946 is shown in more detail below.

112 minutes L and 96 minutes RGB binned 2x2 on 2013-09-06 using a QSI 583 from northern New Jersey through an Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f5.45. North is to the right. ©2013

NGC 6946, detail from the above image.