A Galactic Star Cluster and a Fine Spiral Galaxy
New general catalog of nebulae and clusters of stars: NGC 6939 and NGC 6946
Constellation: Cepheus


That's another contrast of entirely different objects very closely arranged in the autumn sky.

NGC 6939 (top right) is a galactic star cluster some 4000 light years from earth, a cradle of very young stars forming from interstellar dust and gas.

NGC 6946 (bottom left) is a multi-armed face-on spiral galaxy classified as Hubble-class Sc, which means the arms are prominent versus the core. Being probably between 15 and 20 million light years away from our home galaxy, the milky way, the star island is on the edge on what astronomers call the "local" galaxy group.


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