IC 342 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Camelopardalis. It's position near the galactic plane causes it to be obscure by galactic dust and gas making it diffucult to image. This galaxy is a member of the IC342-Maffei group of galaxies. This galaxy group is near our group known as the Local Group and is suggested this close proximity may have influenced each others evolution during the early stages of galaxy formations. Distance from our planet is esitmated to be between 6 to 14 million light years.
| Location & Date |
Backyard, Abbott Observatory - Oct 3-4, 2008 Temperature - Low 30's F |
| Telescope | TMB 130SS Refractor, F/7 on a Losmandy G11, Prime Focus, Image scale 1.68 arcsec/pixel |
| Camera |
SBIG ST-2000XM w/CFW8, AO8 Astrodon Tru Balance LRGB Filters CCD temp -15°C |
| Exposure Times | (L) 17 X 10, (R) 10x10, (G) 6x10,(B) 17x10 Minutes, Bin 1x1 |
| Other Information |
Image acquisition/focus/guiding/dither - CCD Autopilot w/CCDSoft Focus - Moonlite Motorfocus w/FocusMax |
| Image Processing |
* Images Plus 3.75 beta 3- Calibration, Grading, Normalize, Alignment, Mix Max Excluded Average Combine, R/L deconvolution, N/R, mild DDP * Adobe CS - L+RGB combine, Levels, Curves, Sharpening, Cropping, NR, JPEG conversion |
