The Hubble Space Telescope managed to snap a picture of a quite challenging cosmic target, namely the so-called Hidden Galaxy. Named IC 342, this bright galaxy is nonetheless hard to spot and capture in pictures, thus gaining its nickname mentioned above. IC 342 is situated relatively close to the Milky Way, at least in astronomical terms.
The Hidden Galaxy Offers a First Clearer Look
Because of the many obstacles in their way, astronomers have yet to determine the exact distance separating the two systems. This could be anything in between 7 million light years, to 11 million light years.
The Hidden Galaxy or Caldwell 5 is an intermediate spiral galaxy. It is positioned near the equator of the galactic disk of the Milky Way. This cosmic region is heavily populated by bright stars, dark dust, and cosmic gas. Also, these are not the only obstacle in viewing IC 342. The galaxy is also obscured by a significant amount of cosmic material in our solar system.
IC 342 appears to be one of the two brightest galaxies in the IC 342/Maffei Group galaxy groups of the Camelopardalis constellation. First discovered in 1985 by William Frederick Denning, it can be detected even with binoculars.
However, all the obstacles in its path make it hard to observe by either amateur or professional astronomers. Now, with some help from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA and ESA managed to capture the clearest yet image of the Hidden Galaxy.
This reveals: “A beautiful mixture of hot, blue star-forming regions, redder, cooler regions of gas, and dark lanes of opaque dust can be seen, all swirling together around a bright core.”
These colors indicate, according to a NASA statement, that the galaxy is very active. The new image reportedly captured the “very central region” of IC 342.
Back in 2003, astronomers confirmed that the core of this galaxy is a very specific type of central region. Titled an HII nucleus, its very name underlines the presence of ionized hydrogen. This is likely a driving force behind the creation of so many hot new stars.
Image Source: Flickr
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