2026年1月8日
IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
Image Credit & Copyright: Gaetan Maxant
Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant toward the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342’s light is dimmed and reddened by intervening cosmic clouds, this sharp telescopic image traces the galaxy’s own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and glowing star forming regions along spiral arms that wind far from the galaxy’s core. IC 342 has undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and is close enough to have influenced the evolution of the local group of galaxies and the Milky Way.
Tomorrow’s picture: Sun dog vs. Earth dog
IC 342: 隐藏于鹿豹座的星系
影像提供与版权: Gaetan Maxant
说明: IC 342的大小与我们附近的大型明亮旋涡星系相仿，它位于北天长颈的星座鹿豹座方向，距离我们仅1000万光年。IC342宛如广阔的岛宇宙，本应在我们的夜空中成为耀眼的星系，但它被我们银河系平面上的恒星、气体和尘埃云的面纱遮蔽，只能隐约可见。尽管IC 342的光线因宇宙云的遮蔽而变得昏暗且泛红，但这张清晰的望远镜影像依然勾勒出星系自身遮蔽的尘埃、年轻星团以及沿着螺旋臂远离星系核心的发光恒星形成区域。IC 342最近经历了一次恒星形成爆发，并且距离我们足够近，足以影响 本星系群和银河系的演化。
明日的图片: Sun dog vs. Earth dog
