NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy) with my 8" f/4 Newtonian astrograph from Paris

[Dan_Paris]

  Hi,

 

the face-on intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 6946, known as the Fireworks galaxy, is one of the few large targets in summer for galaxy addicts like me. It constitutes also  a beautiful optical pair with the open cluster NGC 6939.  The seeing was excellent at the beginning of the night (1.3") and worsened progressively. The median FWHM on the luminance stack is 1.8", allowing to extract interesting details from the galaxy. Due to the poor transparency and the light pollution (Paris' suburbs) the IFNs are challenging to bring out.

Here's first the full field of view (right click for full res, it's worth it!)

And a crop on the galaxy:

 

 

Thanks for looking and clear skies,

Dan

 

Technical details

200/800 custom Newtonian astrograph with Romano Zen optics and carbon fiber tube
AP900 CP4 mount on Losmandy HD tripod

ASI183mm (0.66"/pix)
TS 2.5" Riccardi-Wynne corrector
ZWO LRGB filters
Guiding : ZWO OAG + ASI120mm mini + AsiairV1
Luminance : 260 *60sec
Chrominance : 20*60sec for each R,G and B.
Conditions : Bortle 7/8 skies in Paris' suburbs, hazy skies and variable seeing (1.8" median FWHM on the luminance stack)
Stacking with Siril, processing with Pixinsight

Edited August 21, 2023 by Dan_Paris