IC342 by Rod Pommier

IC 342 is a face-on classic spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis. It lies near the galactic equator of our Milky Way galaxy and thus is found in a field replete with colorful foreground Milky Way stars. However, the bigger issue is that this galaxy is also greatly dimmed by obscuring dark dust near the equator of the Milky Way rendering it very difficult to image, requiring long exposure times. This has led to its intriguing nickname of “The Hidden Galaxy.” Thus, despite the fact that it lies only 7 million light-years from Earth and is the third largest galaxy in the sky, surpassed only by M31 in Andromeda and M33 in Triangulum, it is not imaged nearly as frequently as a host of more distant, smaller, yet much brighter galaxies. IC 342 is rich in spiral arms, dust lanes, and HII regions.

Location: Pommier Observatory, Portland, OR, USA.

Telescope: CDK17

Mount: L500

Camera: SBIG STL 11000M with Baader Planetarium filters.

Exposures: Ha:L:R:G:B = 900:520:165:155:155 minutes = 31 hours, 35 minutes total exposure, guided.