THE FIREWORKS GALAXY

18 million light-years

The Fireworks Galaxy is a nearby spiral galaxy located near the border between the constellations Cepheus (the king) and Cygnus (the swan). It is mostly obscured by interstellar matter from the Milky Way Galaxy. In this dual image, orange depicts optical data from the Digital Sky Survey, while the blue shows neutral hydrogen as obtained with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope.

Credit: Boomsma R., Oosterloo T., Fraternali F., Sancisi R., van der Hulst M.J.