IC342 The Hidden Galaxy (LRGB)

[geoflewis]

Here is a look at IC342, knows as the Hidden Galaxy, it's name coming from it being seen though the dusty regions close to the galactic equator making it more difficult to observe.

This is my first image of 2020, though I did start capturing the data on 31 Dec 2019 and completed it over the past run of clear nights. The image comprise L 31x10m, RGB 30x5m each for a total integration of just under 13 hours.

Thanks for looking.

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by geoflewis
Corrected data captured

[JamesF]

Nicely done, Geof.  I seem to recall someone posting an image of this some time back, but not at this scale.

James

[don4l]

Very nice.  Well worth the effort.

[Davey-T]

Very nice Geoff, on my list of things to do, so many targets so little time 😂

Dave

[cfpendock]

Nicely done for a difficult target.  I like the processing, and you've managed to reduce the stars very well.  What scope was this?

Chris

[carastro]

Wow, a very challenging target, lucky you have dark skies.

Well done, you got a lot of detail.

Carole 

[geoflewis]

27 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Nicely done, Geof.  I seem to recall someone posting an image of this some time back, but not at this scale.

James

 

26 minutes ago, don4l said:

Very nice.  Well worth the effort.

 

25 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Very nice Geoff, on my list of things to do, so many targets so little time 😂

Dave

 

13 minutes ago, cfpendock said:

Nicely done for a difficult target.  I like the processing, and you've managed to reduce the stars very well.  What scope was this?

Chris

 

5 minutes ago, carastro said:

Wow, a very challenging target, lucky you have dark skies.

Well done, you got a lot of detail.

Carole 

Thanks everyone, it was good to get a decent run of nights to capture this. I just checked my data and forgot that I added more data one night before switching to M82, so closer to 13 hours total integration.

@cfpendock Chris, this was captured with my C14 + x0.67 Optec telecompressor lens and QSI583 camera. It was a tight squeeze 🥴

[theastrodragon]

You've brought out some lovely detail of the dust clouds between the spiral arms there.

[geoflewis]

8 minutes ago, theastrodragon said:

You've brought out some lovely detail of the dust clouds between the spiral arms there.

Many thanks. Geof

[Thommy]

Just noticed this now. A very detailed image of IC342. I don't recall to have seen an image of the hidden galaxy with both structure and star forming regions to stand out so clear as in this one. Well done!

/Thommy 

[geoflewis]

4 minutes ago, Thommy said:

Just noticed this now. A very detailed image of IC342. I don't recall to have seen an image of the hidden galaxy with both structure and star forming regions to stand out so clear as in this one. Well done!

/Thommy 

Thanks Thommy, I too was surprised to see those star forming regions and it got me wondering about shooting some Ha to see if that added anything extra. Geof

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Geof for a brilliant image of IC342. The name of the galaxy rang a bell so I looked it up. I noted that the galaxy is Caldwell 5 on Patrick's list and according to my log I observed it in September 2012 but could only see the nucleus.

So your image shows what it is really like - excellent.

[geoflewis]

3 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks Geof for a brilliant image of IC342. The name of the galaxy rang a bell so I looked it up. I noted that the galaxy is Caldwell 5 on Patrick's list and according to my log I observed it in September 2012 but could only see the nucleus.

So your image shows what it is really like - excellent.

Thanks Mark, I appreciate the generous feedback, but even more so that it took you back a few years to your own visual observation. It's great when something happens to invoke a previous memory, whether that is astro related or not, so thanks for sharing that. September 2012 was just 6 months after I took early retirement, following redundancy and was just getting back into astronomy after decades of doing virtually nothing with what started out as a childhood hobby. I spent a chunk of my redundancy on a 2nd hand 10" Meade LX200, tripod and EQ wedge. Having only ever done visual astronomy, it was around that time I got the idea of dabbling with AP and I think I took my first very streaky image of M31, not realising that the equatorial mount works also need to be guided...!! That got me on the very expensive journey to where I am today (literally, as it also saw me move from LP Surrey to dark sky Norfolk)..... Cheers, Geof

[Mark at Beaufort]

4 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Thanks Mark, I appreciate the generous feedback, but even more so that it took you back a few years to your own visual observation. It's great when something happens to invoke a previous memory, whether that is astro related or not, so thanks for sharing that. September 2012 was just 6 months after I took early retirement, following redundancy and was just getting back into astronomy after decades of doing virtually nothing with what started out as a childhood hobby. I spent a chunk of my redundancy on a 2nd hand 10" Meade LX200, tripod and EQ wedge. Having only ever done visual astronomy, it was around that time I got the idea of dabbling with AP and I think I took my first very streaky image of M31, not realising that the equatorial mount works also need to be guided...!! That got me on the very expensive journey to where I am today (literally, as it also saw me move from LP Surrey to dark sky Norfolk)..... Cheers, Geof

Good memories Geof. I retired in 2005 and astronomy has been an important part of my social life ignoring my canal boat and playing squash 3 times a week.

[Rodd]

Nice effort.....The scale is impressive.  Star color is good.  As the 4th largest galaxy observable from Earth (apparent size), it is fun to image.  There is significant Ha in this galaxy if your are up for a challenge!

Rodd

[geoflewis]

3 minutes ago, Rodd said:

Nice effort.....The scale is impressive.  Star color is good.  As the 4th largest galaxy observable from Earth (apparent size), it is fun to image.  There is significant Ha in this galaxy if your are up for a challenge!

Rodd

Thanks Rodd,

As I mentioned in my reply to Thommy, I did wonder if adding Ha might be worth a try, so thanks for confirming it.

Cheers,

[Rodd]

12 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Thanks Rodd,

As I mentioned in my reply to Thommy, I did wonder if adding Ha might be worth a try, so thanks for confirming it.

Cheers,

Definitely.  here is a link to my image recently completed.   The first is with a 5" refractor.  the second is 1/2 data from refractor and 1/2 from Planwave 12.5", which is more like your scale.  It was a fun project (32 hours in refractor image, 64 hours in combined image).  Ha will certainly be worth your while!

https://www.astrobin.com/7rq4sh/CI/?real=&nc=user

https://www.astrobin.com/pzi3ci/M/?real=&nc=user

Rodd

[geoflewis]

4 minutes ago, Rodd said:

Definitely.  here is a link to my image recently completed.   The first is with a 5" refractor.  the second is 1/2 data from refractor and 1/2 from Planwave 12.5", which is more like your scale.  It was a fun project (32 hours in refractor image, 64 hours in combined image).  Ha will certainly be worth your while!

https://www.astrobin.com/7rq4sh/CI/?real=&nc=user

https://www.astrobin.com/pzi3ci/M/?real=&nc=user

Rodd

Hi Rodd,

Well those certainly set a high bar. I think I came across them when I researching the galaxy as a possible target, but didn't look to see what data was included, so many thanks for making me take another look.

 

[Rodd]

9 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

so many thanks for making me take another look.

Glad my obsession can be useful to others!  My sky is pretty bad, so you probably don't need as much Ha data, plus I think I collected mine during a full Moon when there wasn't anything else to shoot--so probably not the strongest signal

Rodd