IC 342

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IC 342 is a nearby (14 million light years) spiral galaxy whose light is attenuated by the intervening gas and dust of our own Milky Way. It is for this reason that the galaxy is not as well known as others in the Messier catalogue. A deep exposure of this galaxy reveals it has graceful spiral arms with a myriad of star clusters and nebulae. It is often suggested that this galaxy is one of the best examples of a nearby spiral galaxy that closely resembles our own galactic home. The galaxy extends well beyond this field of view. IC342 is a member of a small group of galaxies called the Maffei group. This group is the closest group of galaxies outside of our "Local Group." Amatuer astronomer, Chris Schur, identified the galaxy on the right side of the field to be IRAS 03443+6754. This is the only catalogue the galaxy appears in. The IRAS database was compiled from infra-red observations by a satellite of the same name.

Equipment

20in RC Optical Systems telescope Operating at f/5.5
Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 120 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Green = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 2x2
  • Data taken under non-photometric skies.
  • Two iterations of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp were applied to the luminance image.

    • Minimum credit line: Ken and Emilie Siarkiewicz/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 10/13/2004