APOD 2.7- Fireworks Galaxy

The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 6946, is a spiral galaxy behind the constellation Cepheus and it is nearly ten million light years away and 40,000 light-years across. The galaxy gets its name because of the way its stars shift colors, from yellow light of old stars in the center of the spiral to blue light of new stars on the outside. The galaxy has a lot of gas and dust, and has a high rate of star formation. The Fireworks galaxy has produced at least nine supernovae in the last century, an outstanding number of death explosions of large stars.