Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Eric Africa/Adam Block

A casual glance at the dark night sky seems to imply that most of the universe is accessible to us. The sky is filled with stars and even the most modest starcharts will show a region teeming with objects to be observed with binoculars and small telescopes. This is especially so in the direction of NGC 6814. When we look at this galaxy we are looking into and through an inner spiral arm of our own galaxy. Clouds of gas and dust billow and waft in the foreground of NGC 6814 which lies some 68 million light years away. Thus the reality is that many directions are dimmed or completely hidden from view due to the busy inner workings of our own home. We are lucky that NGC 6814 is an intrinsically bright galaxy and its light skirts some of the thickest clouds of the Milky Way. Not unlike the filtered sunlight of a hazy day, NGC 6814's light is dimmed and muted. Its spiral arms are bright blue with many the many punctuated pinks and reds of HII regions. Only the salient details of color and structure can be perceived in the image shown here. Astronomers have studied this galaxy extensively and have noted that its nuclear region changes in brightness on the order of weeks and months. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-n6814africa/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License