Spiral Galaxy IC 342: The Not-So-Hidden in Camelopardalis

Spiral Galaxy IC 342: The Not-So-Hidden in Camelopardalis

“I see” IC 342, the Hidden Galaxy! This image peers through the plane of the Milky Way, through all its gas, dust and stars, to unveil this spiral galaxy. IC 342 (or Caldwell 5) is one of the brightest members of the IC 342/Maffei group of galaxies. Located about 10 million light years away, this group is quite close to the Local Group that includes our Milky Way. Inaccurate accounting of the crowded and dusty Milky Way foreground has led to misunderstandings in IC 342’s history, including the theory that the galaxy was ejected from the Local Group. IC 342 has its own dust intermittently blocking the glow of hydrogen gas, indicating the presence of bright, young stars. Magnetic field maps of IC 342 reveal that magnetic fields may contribute substantially to one of the biggest galactic puzzles. How do spiral arms form?

Although 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.

Credit & Copyright: Artem Mironov

Artem's website: https://www.instagram.com/artofomin/
Authors & editors: Keighley Rockcliffe, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti
A service of the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Technological University (MTU)
Date:  Nov. 4, 2026

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