Spiral galaxy · Camelopardalis
IC 342 Hidden Galaxy
Also known as: C5
mag 9.720′ across
About
IC 342, the Hidden Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy of magnitude 9.7 in Camelopardalis, about 20′ across.
How to find it
- IC 342 is in the constellation Camelopardalis.
- Best evenings: around early January it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
- Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from north of 12° S.
When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.
What you will see
- EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
- Binoculars (10×50)Too faint for binoculars.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)Very hard or out of reach: it needs a dark sky and a larger telescope, or a camera.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | IC 342, C5, PGC 13826, UGC 2847 |
|---|---|
| Type | Spiral galaxy (SABc) |
| Magnitude | 9.7The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 20′ × 19′the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 24.9 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Camelopardalis |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 03h 46m 48.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +68° 05′ 47″ |
More in Camelopardalis
Sources and credits
Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →