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Name / Constellation

IC 342

 Other: Caldwell 5, UGC 2847, PGC 13826

Cam
Coordinates AR:03h 46m 48.5s - Dec:+68° 05′ 46″
Optics Richtey-Chretien Officina Stellare 10"@F8 Carbon Truss / Takahashi FSQ 106N Apo Refratctor
Camera-Mount SBIG ST10XME/CFW10/ONAG/ST8300 guider - SBIG STF 8300/Orion SS - M10Micron GM2000 QCI Mount
Filters Astrodon L (Gen 2) - Baader RGB
Exposure
  • Luminance
  • Red
  • Green
  • Blue
  • 12 x 900 sec - 3 hours
  • 9 x 600 sec - 1.5 hours
  • 9 x 600 sec - 1.5 hours
  • 9 x 600 sec - 1.5 hours
  • UNBINNED
  • BINNING 2X2
  • BINNING 2X2
  • BINNING 2X2
Location / Date Promiod (Valle D'Aosta-Italy) "TLP" Remote Observatory - 13 cto(RGB) & 19 oct (Lum) 2018
Seeing About 1.8" (Lum) & 2.3" (RGB) - 0.71 (Lum) & 2.1 arcosec/pixel image scale unbinned
Note Lum taken with RC/ST10XME - RGB taken with Takahashi FSQ 106N/STF 8300M
Acquisition CCD Autopilot 5 - MaxIm
Processing Adobe Photoshop CS6 -
Comment

IC 342 (also known as Caldwell 5) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis relatively close to the Milky Way. Despite its size and actual brightness, its location in dusty areas near the galactic equator makes it difficult to observe, leading to the nickname "The Hidden Galaxy", though it can readily be detected even with binoculars.[5] The dust makes it difficult to determine its precise distance; modern estimates range from about 7 Mly to about 11 Mly.
The galaxy was discovered by William Frederick Denning in 1892. It is one of the brightest in the IC 342/Maffei Group, one of the closest galaxy groups to the Local Group. Edwin Hubble first thought it to be in the Local Group, but it was later determined not to be a member.
In 1935, Harlow Shapley found that it was wider than the full moon, and by angular size the third-largest spiral galaxy then known, smaller only than the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Triangulum Galaxy (M33). (Modern estimates are more conservative, giving the apparent size as one-half to two-thirds the diameter of the full moon).