C5 — Hidden Galaxy
Galaxy in Camelopardalis
About
Camelopardalis holds this spiral galaxy, roughly 11 million light-years away. Milky Way dust in front of it gave the nickname, and it ranks among the brighter galaxies of the nearby IC 342/Maffei Group.
Imaging tips
- About 21′ × 10′: 1,150–1,920 mm on APS-C frames it.
- Faint at 23.5 mag/arcsec² and dust-dimmed; one imager gathered 34 hours in 10-minute subs, and 300–600 s subs are advised.
- Mix RGB with Hα: one image added 3 nm Hα to show red star-forming regions along the arms.
- A lens on a star tracker will likely disappoint; one source suggests at least 500–600 mm of focal length.
- Best around November and December; it peaks near 72° from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 21′ × 10′
- Magnitude
- 9.1
- Coordinates
- RA 3h 46.8m, Dec +68° 6′
- Framing, APS-C
- 1150–1920 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 1770–2950 mm
- Best months
- Nov, Dec
- Peak altitude
- 72° from 50°N, 57° from 35°N