IC342 "The Hidden Galaxy" - New Attempt and a WIP" (Jim Raskett)

IC342 "The Hidden Galaxy" - New Attempt and a WIP"

Revision title: A Different Approach

IC 342 (also known as Caldwell 5) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis, located relatively close to the Milky Way. Despite its size and actual brightness, its location behind dusty areas near the galactic equator makes it difficult to observe, leading to the nickname "The Hidden Galaxy", though it can readily be detected even with binoculars. If the galaxy were not obscured, it would be visible by naked eye. The dust makes it difficult to determine its precise distance; modern estimates range from about 7 million light-years (Mly)to about 11 Mly. The galaxy was discovered by William Frederick Denning in 1892. It is one of the brightest in the IC 342/Maffei Group, one of the closest galaxy groups to the Local Group. Edwin Hubble first thought it to be in the Local Group, but it was later determined not to be a member.

I imaged this target back in October 2023 wide field and struggled with processing. I really didn't think that I would try it again since it is quite obscured by interstellar dust in the plane of the Milky Way.

Well, I tried with a bit more focal length. My Explore Scientific ED102 (still small at a reduced 571mm).
Unfortunately, I only collected 7 hours and haven't had the chance to catch more data. Nowhere near enough time. Adding to the challenge is that it is a low target and only reaches 51 degrees in altitude which keeps it deep in Bortle 7 sky.

I tried processing this data many, many times and gave up. I just couldn't get something acceptable.
Well, for the 14th time I finally kept things very simple and didn't push the data hardly at all (because it pushed back!). Less is sometimes better, especially in the case of low altitude, significant LP, and low integration time.

Still hoping for more data. If nothing else, next year. This is a relatively large as galaxies go and is very beautiful.

I will give the data another go soon with BXT2. I will give it a few days though.

Thanks for looking and comments welcome!

Jim

Original
Final
B

B

Title: A Different Approach

Description: This is not a complete reprocess, but instead, I tried to suppress the strong orangish hue to the galaxy develops naturally while processing.
In earlier processes, I had pushed that hue since the coloration is most likely due obscureness of the plane of the MW and is most likely the "natural" view of IC342 from Earth.

Uploaded: ...

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	9405313
PixInsight job	79A1BRLQL7JUF7K80VIFG3EBGBNWJNV7
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	03h46m49s.19
RA (top/left)	03h52m42s.17
RA (top/right)	03h52m50s.20
RA (bottom/right)	03h40m38s.77
RA (bottom/left)	03h41m05s.72

Dec (center)	+68°05′32″.4
Dec (top/left)	+67°31′52″.7
Dec (top/right)	+68°39′15″.8
Dec (bottom/right)	+68°38′23″.9
Dec (bottom/left)	+67°31′02″.9

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