IC 342 (Camelopardalis)

Fig. 1 - Obscured by cosmic gas, dark dust, and glowing stars of our own Milky Way: The spiral galaxy IC 342 in the constellation Camelopardalis, photographed with an 8-inch f/5 Newtonian reflector on a ZWO AM5 mount.

Fig. 1 - Obscured by cosmic gas, dark dust, and glowing stars of our own Milky Way: The spiral galaxy IC 342 in the constellation Camelopardalis, photographed with an 8-inch f/5 Newtonian reflector on a ZWO AM5 mount.


Object name:Constellation:Coordinates:Apparent size:Visual brightness:
IC 342Camelopardalis03h47m / +68°06'21.4' x 20.9'9.1 mag


The spiral galaxy IC 342 ("The Hidden Galaxy", "Caldwell 5") in the constellation Camelopardalis. The light of IC 342 has to cross the dusty equator plane of our Milky Way in order to reach Earth. Thus, IC 342 appears fainter and "redder" than it actually is. The galaxy is approximately 7-11 million light-years from Earth and was discovered by British astronomer William Frederick Denning in 1892. (source: Wikipedia).

One-hundred-and-five 3-minute exposures (315 minutes total exposure) at gain 100 and -10°C, taken on November 10, 2024 and on November 30, 2024, were added for this shot with Astro Pixel Processor (APP) software and the final image processing was done in Photoshop. Darks, flats, bias and darkflats were used.

Equipment: Cooled ASI 2600MC Pro camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 8" f/5 "ONTC" Newtonian telescope riding on a ZWO AM5 Strain Wave Mount, ZWO OAG-L off axis system, ASI 174MM Mini guide camera, ASIAIR Plus.

Fig. 2 - Search chart for IC 342. Copyright 2024 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.

Fig. 2 - Search chart for IC 342. Copyright 2024 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.