IC 342
Spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis
title: "IC 342" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1892", "intermediate-spiral-galaxies", "ic-342/maffei-group", "camelopardalis", "ic-objects", "ugc-objects", "principal-galaxies-catalogue-objects", "caldwell-objects", "iras-catalogue-objects", "mcg-objects"] description: "Spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_342" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Galaxy"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | IC 342 |
| image | Euclid’s view of spiral galaxy IC 342 ESA25170723.jpg |
| caption | Euclid telescope image of the IC 342 galaxy |
| epoch | J2000 |
| ra | |
| dec | |
| constellation name | Camelopardalis |
| z | 31 ± 3 km/s |
| dist_ly | 10.7 ± 0.9 Mly (3.3 ± 0.3 Mpc){{cite journal |
| author1 | I. D. Karachentsev |
| journal | Astronomical Journal |
| date | 2004 |
| volume | 127 |
| issue | 4 |
| pages | 2031–2068 |
| bibcode | 2004AJ....127.2031K |
| doi | 10.1086/382905 |
| }}<ref name | "Karachentsevetal2006"{{cite journal |
| author1 | Karachentsev, I. D. |
| journal | Astrophysics |
| date | 2006 |
| volume | 49 |
| issue | 1 |
| pages | 3–18 |
| bibcode | 2006Ap.....49....3K |
| doi | 10.1007/s10511-006-0002-6 |
| type | SAB(rs)cd |
| appmag_v | 9.1 |
| size_v | 21.4 × 20.9 |
| size | ~150,000 ly (45.62 kpc) (estimated) |
| stars | 100 billion |
| names | |
| :: |
| name = IC 342 | image = Euclid’s view of spiral galaxy IC 342 ESA25170723.jpg | caption = Euclid telescope image of the IC 342 galaxy | epoch = J2000 | ra = | dec = | constellation name = Camelopardalis | z = 31 ± 3 km/s | dist_ly = 10.7 ± 0.9 Mly (3.3 ± 0.3 Mpc){{cite journal |author1=I. D. Karachentsev |author2=V. E. Karachentseva |author3=W. K. Hutchmeier |author4=D. I. Makarov | title=A Catalog of Neighboring Galaxies | journal=Astronomical Journal | date=2004 | volume=127 | issue=4 | pages=2031–2068 | bibcode=2004AJ....127.2031K | doi=10.1086/382905| doi-access=free |author1=Karachentsev, I. D. |author2=Kashibadze, O. G. | title=Masses of the local group and of the M81 group estimated from distortions in the local velocity field | journal=Astrophysics | date=2006 | volume=49 | issue=1 | pages=3–18 | bibcode=2006Ap.....49....3K | doi=10.1007/s10511-006-0002-6 |s2cid=120973010 }} | type = SAB(rs)cd | appmag_v = 9.1 | size_v = 21.4 × 20.9 | size = ~150,000 ly (45.62 kpc) (estimated) | stars = 100 billion | notes = | names =
IC 342 (also known as Caldwell 5) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis, located relatively close to the Milky Way. Despite its size and actual brightness, its location behind dusty areas near the galactic equator makes it difficult to observe, leading to the nickname "The Hidden Galaxy",{{cite web | title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database | work=Results for IC 342 | url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/ | access-date=2006-11-01 | last=O'Meara | first=Stephen James | title=The Caldwell Objects | date=2002 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-933346-97-2 | pages=30–32 | title=Hidden Galaxy IC 342 | date=22 December 2010 |access-date=28 January 2013
In 1935, Harlow Shapley found that it was wider than the full moon, and by angular size the third-largest spiral galaxy then known, smaller only than the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Triangulum Galaxy (M33). (Modern estimates are more conservative, giving the apparent size as one-half to two-thirds the diameter of the full moon).
It has an H II nucleus. In 2020, the galaxy KKH 32 was identified as the first known satellite of IC 342 that is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Unlike galaxies with large bulges such as the Andromeda Galaxy, IC 342 has relatively few dwarf satellite galaxies. KKH 32 is located about 10.2 million light-years (3.12 megaparsecs) away, and has a diameter of about 4,300 light-years (1.32 kiloparsecs).
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Hubble's_Hidden_Galaxy.jpg" caption="Hubble Space Telescope image of the central region of IC 342, showing the central star cluster and surrounding dust lanes.<ref name="Hubble's Hidden Galaxy" />"] ::
References
References
- Denning, W. F.. (1893). "New nebula". Astronomy and Astro-Physics.
- SEDS [http://spider.seds.org/spider/LG/i0342.html IC 342]. {{webarchive. link. (January 2, 2007)
- Border Cities Star (Windsor, Ontario), [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OP8-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=oU0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5836,2330915 "Spiral Galaxy Third Biggest"], 24 June 1935, p.8
- (May 1989). "H II regions, extinction, and IC 342 - A new view of the galactic neighborhood". The Astronomical Journal.
- (2020). "KKH 22, the first dwarf spheroidal satellite of IC 342". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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