# IC 342

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{{Short description|Spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis}}
{{Infobox Galaxy
| name = IC 342
| image = Euclid’s view of spiral galaxy IC 342 ESA25170723.jpg
| caption = [Euclid](/source/Euclid_(spacecraft)) telescope image of the IC 342 galaxy
| epoch = [J2000](/source/Epoch_(astronomy))
| ra = {{RA|03|46|48.5028}}<ref name="ned" />
| dec = {{DEC|+68|05|46.924}}<ref name="ned" />
| constellation name = [Camelopardalis](/source/Camelopardalis)
| z = 31 ± 3 km/[s](/source/second)<ref name="ned" />
| dist_ly = [10.7 ± 0.9](/source/1_E22_m) [Mly](/source/light-year) (3.3 ± 0.3 [Mpc](/source/Parsec))<ref name="karachentsevetal2004">{{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
 }}</ref><ref name="Karachentsevetal2006">{{cite journal
 |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 }}</ref>
| type = SAB(rs)cd<ref name="ned" />
| appmag_v = 9.1<ref name="ned" />
| size_v = 21.4{{prime}} × 20.9{{prime}}<ref name="ned" />
| size = ~150,000 [ly](/source/Light-Year) (45.62 [kpc](/source/kiloparsec)) (estimated)<ref name="ned" />
| stars = 100 billion
| notes =
| names = {{odlist | UGC= 2847 | PGC= 13826 | C= 5 | CGCG= 305-002 | MCG= +11-05-003 | IRAS= 03419+6756}}<ref name="ned" />
}}

'''IC 342''' (also known as '''[Caldwell](/source/Caldwell_catalogue) 5''') is an [intermediate spiral galaxy](/source/intermediate_spiral_galaxy) in the [constellation](/source/constellation) [Camelopardalis](/source/Camelopardalis), located relatively close to the [Milky Way](/source/Milky_Way). Despite its size and actual brightness, its location behind dusty areas near the [galactic equator](/source/Galactic_coordinate_system) makes it difficult to observe, leading to the nickname "'''The Hidden Galaxy'''",<ref name="Hubble's Hidden Galaxy">{{cite web|title=Hubble's Hidden Galaxy|url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1727a/|website=www.spacetelescope.org|access-date=3 July 2017|archive-date=20 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220131824/https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1727a/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ned">{{cite web
 | title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
 | work=Results for IC 342
 | url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
 | access-date=2006-11-01
}}</ref> though it can readily be detected even with binoculars.<ref name="omeara">{{cite book
 | last=O'Meara
 | first=Stephen James 
 | title=The Caldwell Objects
 | date=2002
 | publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press)
 | isbn=0-933346-97-2
 | pages=30–32
}}</ref> If the galaxy were not obscured, it would be visible by naked eye{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}. The dust makes it difficult to determine its precise distance; modern estimates range from about 7 million [light-years](/source/light-years) (Mly)<ref name="apod">{{Cite APOD
 | title=Hidden Galaxy IC 342 
 | date=22 December 2010
 |access-date=28 January 2013
}}</ref> to about 11 Mly.<ref name="karachentsevetal2004" /> The galaxy was discovered by [William Frederick Denning](/source/William_Frederick_Denning) in 1892.<ref>{{cite journal|title=New nebula|bibcode=1893AstAp..12..189D|author=Denning, W. F.|journal=Astronomy and Astro-Physics|date=1893|volume=12|page=189}}</ref> It is one of the brightest in the [IC 342/Maffei Group](/source/IC_342%2FMaffei_Group), one of the closest [galaxy group](/source/galaxy_group)s to the [Local Group](/source/Local_Group). [Edwin Hubble](/source/Edwin_Hubble) first thought it to be in the Local Group, but it was later determined not to be a member.<ref>SEDS [http://spider.seds.org/spider/LG/i0342.html IC 342]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102030726/http://www.seds.org/~spider/spider/LG/i0342.html |date=January 2, 2007 }}</ref>

In 1935, [Harlow Shapley](/source/Harlow_Shapley) found that it was wider than the [full moon](/source/full_moon), and by angular size the third-largest spiral galaxy then known, smaller only than the [Andromeda Galaxy](/source/Andromeda_Galaxy) (M31) and the [Triangulum Galaxy](/source/Triangulum_Galaxy) (M33).<ref>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</ref> (Modern estimates are more conservative, giving the apparent size as one-half to two-thirds the diameter of the full moon).<ref name="ned" /><ref name="omeara" />

It has an H II nucleus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCall |first1=Marshall L. |title=H II regions, extinction, and IC 342 - A new view of the galactic neighborhood |journal=The Astronomical Journal |date=May 1989 |volume=97 |pages=1341 |doi=10.1086/115077 |bibcode=1989AJ.....97.1341M }}</ref> In 2020, the galaxy [KKH 32](/source/KKH_32) was identified as the first known satellite of IC 342 that is a [dwarf spheroidal galaxy](/source/dwarf_spheroidal_galaxy). Unlike galaxies with large bulges such as the [Andromeda Galaxy](/source/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).<ref name="Karachentsev2020">{{cite journal|doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202037993|title=KKH 22, the first dwarf spheroidal satellite of IC 342|year=2020|last1=Karachentsev|first1=Igor D.|last2=Makarova|first2=Lidia N.|last3=Tully|first3=R. Brent|last4=Anand|first4=Gagandeep S.|last5=Rizzi|first5=Luca|last6=Shaya|first6=Edward J.|last7=Afanasiev|first7=Viktor L.|s2cid=218538458|journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics|volume=638|pages=A111|arxiv=2005.03132|bibcode=2020A&A...638A.111K}}</ref>

thumb|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" />

==See also==
*[NGC 6946](/source/NGC_6946) – similar galaxy heavily obscured by Milky Way stars and dust.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commonscat}}
* [http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101222.html NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day] – 22 December 2010
* [http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr07/pr0703.html IC 342 (image included)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524231256/http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr07/pr0703.html |date=2008-05-24 }}
* {{WikiSky}}

{{Sky|03|46|48.5028|+|68|05|46.924|10700000}}
{{Catalogs|IC=342|C=5|UGC=2847|PGC=13826}}
{{Caldwell catalogue}}
{{Camelopardalis}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:IC 342}}
18920819
IC 0342
IC 0342
IC 0342
0342
02847
13826
005b
03419+6756
+11-05-003

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [IC 342](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_342) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_342?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.