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Credit & Copyright: Stephen Leshin
Explanation:
Similar
in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood,
IC 342
is a mere 10 million light-years
distant in the long-necked,
northern constellation Camelopardalis.
A sprawling 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 Milky Way galaxy.
Even though IC 342's light is dimmed by
intervening cosmic
clouds, this
deep telescopic image
traces the galaxy's obscuring dust, blue star clusters, and glowing
pink star forming regions along spiral arms that
wind far from the galaxy's core.
IC 342 may have undergone a recent
burst of
star formation activity and is
close enough to have gravitationally
influenced the evolution of the
local
group of galaxies and the Milky Way.
Interplanetary Group Photo op:
Be sure to smile and
wave at Saturn!
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy
Publications with words: spiral galaxy
See also: