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This stunning image, released on 5 July 2023, depicts the Fireworks Galaxy, officially NGC 6946.
Its nickname is due to the high number of supernovae observed within it, almost a dozen in the last 100 years.
Image source➡️ https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/115/01H3D2YW8KJRXPEVYEXYCRRX1B
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This stunning image, released on 5 July 2023, depicts the Fireworks Galaxy, officially NGC 6946.
Its nickname is due to the high number of supernovae observed within it, almost a dozen in the last 100 years.
Image source➡️ https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/115/01H3D2YW8KJRXPEVYEXYCRRX1B
Comments
You're right, science fiction can be attractive, but Science is much more so.
And here we only do Science.😊
From Geek Slop
By comparison, the average rate for supernovae in the Milky Way is about 1 per century. The 1980 supernova explosion, of type II, was the most flashy.
Among its spiral arms there are numerous HII regions, i.e. nebulae into which new stars are born at a furious rate.
Infrared observations have revealed that in NGC 6946 an intense starburst phenomenon took place, in the last 20 million years. In fact, near the nucleus of the galaxy there are many young and bright stars.
The galaxy luminosity is equal to about 30 billion suns.
NGC 6946 was the subject of a study, published on 5 July 2023, aimed at understanding the origins & importance of interstellar dust as a constituent of many celestial bodies in the Universe.
In fact, supernova explosions have been sought for decades as a possible source of dust in the Universe,
providing the seeds of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems.
Spectroscopic observations of two type II supernovae (2004et and 2017eaw), carried out with the MIRI instrument of the JWST, have highlighted how, following a stellar collapse and subsequent manifestation of a supernova,
volumes of hot gas are released.
These gases, cooling at great distances, produce significant quantities of cosmic dust.
The Fireworks Galaxy, classified as an intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus and as an active starburst galaxy, is located some 22.5 Mly away in Cygnus.
This image of NGC 6946 contextualizes the locations of Supernova 2004et and Supernova 2017eaw within the galaxy.
Image Credits: KPNO, NSF's NOIRLab, AURA
Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Science Paper ➡️ https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/523/4/6048/7213984