Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2026 January 8
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                   IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Gaetan Maxant

   Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our
   neighborhood, [5]IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years [6]distant
   toward the long-necked, northern constellation [7]Camelopardalis. A
   sprawling [8]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 [9]Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed
   and reddened by intervening [10]cosmic clouds, this [11]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 [12]the galaxy's core. IC 342 has undergone a recent burst of
   star formation activity and is close enough to have [13]influenced the
   evolution of the [14]local group of galaxies and the Milky Way.

                  Tomorrow's picture: Sun dog vs. Earth dog
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    Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([29]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply.
            [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility, [33]Notices;
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC,
                         [37]NASA Science Activation
                           & [38]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2601/IC342Low2048.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/Gmaxt/
   5. https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ic342-object
   6. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?2002AJ....124..839S
   7. https://noirlab.edu/public/education/constellations/camelopardalis/
   8. https://history.aip.org/exhibits/cosmology/ideas/island.htm
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110520.html
  10. http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html
  11. https://app.astrobin.com/u/Gmaxt?i=zk43hn#gallery
  12. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-spies-a-hidden-galaxy/
  13. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.459.2237B/abstract
  14. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/maffei1g.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260107.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  21. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  24. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260108
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260109.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  38. http://www.mtu.edu/