IC 342
Characteristics:
RA (J2000): 03h 46m 48s
Dec (J2000): 68 degrees 05' 44"
Position Angle (Pinpoint): plus
01 degrees
Description:
IC342 is a faint, face-on spiral
galaxy whose light is attenuated in
its journey through the dust of the galactic plane in the constellation
Camelopardalis. Because of its relatively low surface brightness,
this target requires fairly long exposures in order to resolve
detail and define its peripheral extent. IC342 is part of the Maffei group
of galaxies, discovered by Paulo Maffei in 1968. Due to the
intervening dust in this part of the Milky Way, the Maffei group is
difficult to detect in visible light and is often best seen in near
infrared wavelengths. The subdued nature of this
galaxy contrasts with other more spectacular galactic targets like M31,
M33, and M101. Still, the above image conveys a peaceful quality
that is the result of the warm yellows and browns that selectively
penetrate the dust in our galactic equator. In the upper right
hand corner of the image is another spiral, PGC 13693. A nice description
of IC342 may be found on Rob Gendler's website.
Photographic
Details:
Date: October 10 and 11, 2009.
Scope: VC200L at
f6.4 on the Takahashi NJP Mount.
Autoguider: SBIG ST-402 with
60mm guidescope, focal length 227mm
Camera: Apogee U32
Filter: Astronomik
type II RGB filters, clear filter for luminance.
Exposures: Clear (60 x 5'); R (6 x 8');
G (5 x 10'); B (6 x 15'). Total
exposure time 8.1 hours.
Conditions: Temperature varied between 60 down to 37
degrees F.
Post-processing: Calibrated, aligned, and
Sigma Clip combined
in Maxim, deconvolution in Maxim using Bob
Vanderbei's Fat Tail Deconvolution script (3 iterations), followed
by DDP
in ImagesPlus (IP). Further processing in Photoshop CS4 (16
bit format).
Please
note: Graphics on this website
may not be reproduced without author permission.
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