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Credit & Copyright: Gaetan Maxant
Explanation:
Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood,
IC 342
is a mere 10 million light-years
distant
toward the long-necked, northern constellation
Camelopardalis.
A sprawling
island universe,
IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky,
but it is hidden from clear view and only
glimpsed through the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds
along the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy.
Even though IC 342's light is dimmed and reddened by intervening
cosmic clouds,
this
sharp telescopic image
traces the galaxy's own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and
glowing star forming regions along spiral arms that wind far from
the galaxy's core.
IC 342 has undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and is
close enough to have
influenced
the evolution of the
local group
of galaxies and the Milky Way.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy
Publications with words: spiral galaxy
See also:
- APOD: 2026 January 14 Á M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
- NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
- APOD: 2025 November 5 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370 from Hubble
- Portrait of NGC 1055
- APOD: 2025 September 4 Á NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
- APOD: 2025 August 22 Á A Tale of Two Nebulae
- APOD: 2025 August 19 Á Giant Galaxies in Pavo