A new image from ESA’s Euclid mission provides a detailed look at the spiral galaxy IC 342, which is also known as the Hidden Galaxy.
IC 342 is located approximately 8.9 million light-years away in the constellation of Camelopardalis.
Also known as UGC 2847, LEDA 13826 and Caldwell 5, this spiral galaxy was discovered in 1892 by the British astronomer William Frederick Denning.
IC 342 it is one of the brightest galaxies in the IC 342/Maffei group.
Although IC 342 is bright, it sits near the equator of the Milky Way’s disk, where the sky is thick with glowing cosmic gas, bright stars, and dark, obscuring dust.
In order for astronomers to see its intricate spiral structure, they must gaze through a large amount of material contained within the Milky Way.
As a result IC 342 is relatively difficult to spot and image, giving rise to its intriguing nickname: the ‘Hidden Galaxy.’
“Euclid could take this beautiful and sharp image thanks to its incredible sensitivity and superb optics,” Euclid Consortium astronomers said.
“Most important here is that Euclid used its near-infrared instrument to peer through the dust and measure the light from the many cool and low-mass stars that dominate the galaxy’s mass.”
“That’s what is so brilliant about Euclid images. In one shot, it can see the whole galaxy in all its beautiful detail,” said Dr. Leslie Hunt, an astronomer at the National Institute for Astrophysics and a member of the Euclid Consortium.
“This image might look normal, as if every telescope can make such an image, but that is not true.”
“What’s so special here is that we have a wide view covering the entire galaxy, but we can also zoom in to distinguish single stars and star clusters.”
“This makes it possible to trace the history of star formation and better understand how stars formed and evolved over the lifetime of the galaxy.”
“It is difficult to study our own Milky Way Galaxy as we are within it and can only see it edge…
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