| Nearby,
Face-on Spiral Galaxy
aka Arp 29, PGC 65001, MCG 10-29-6, Uppsala 11597 Integrated Visual Magnitude: 9.7 Apparent Diameter: 11.5' x 10' Mean Surface Brightness: 23.5 mag/arc-sec2 Distance: 10 Mly Minimum requirements to view: 4-inch telescope under dark skies |
This
is a face-on spiral galaxy in Cygnus that is one of the closest galaxies
outside of the Local Group. Walter Scott Houston called it a "fine
galaxy... easily seen in even small telescopes." He also observed
that "Despite the glittering foreground star field, NGC 6946 stands out
well." In a region where galaxies are sparse due to the obscuring
dust of the Milky Way, this galaxy would appear much brighter if it were
elsewhere. So far, an unprecidented six supernovae have been observed
in NGC 6946!
As a bonus, the tiny open cluster NGC 6939 lies within the same low-power eyepiece field. This 7' grouping of about 80 stars has an integrated magnitude of ~10. They were born together fairly recently (about 1.6 billion years ago).
In my six inch the galaxy appeared as an oval diffuse haze with no central condensation. The tiny cluster was an unexpected treat. The brighter stars in the cluster were plainly resolved, but a haze of unresolved fainter stars was also visible.
A six-inch view at 50x.
North is down and east is right.
| Millennium
Star Atlas Vol III Chart 1074
Sky Atlas 2000 Chart 3 Uranometria 2000 Vol I Chart 56 |
