A Twisted Star-Forming Web in the Galaxy IC 342

Spitzer_sig11-009_1024

spitzer_sig11-009 July 20th, 2011

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Turner (UCLA)

Looking like a spiders web swirled into a spiral, the galaxy IC 342 presents its delicate pattern of dust in this image from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. Seen in infrared light, the faint starlight gives way to the glowing bright patterns of dust found throughout the galaxys disk.

At a distance of about 10 million light-years, IC 342 is relatively close by galaxy standards, however our vantage point places it directly behind the disk of our own Milky Way. The intervening dust makes it difficult to see in visible light, but infrared light penetrates this veil easily. It belongs to the same group as its even more obscured galaxy neighbor, Maffei 2.

IC 342 is nearly face-on to our view giving a clear, top-down view of the structure of its disk. It has a low surface brightness compared to other spirals, indicating a lower density of stars (seen here in blue). Its dust structures show up much more vividly (yellow-green).

New stars are forming in the disk at a healthy clip. Glowing like gems trapped in the web, regions of heavy star formation appear as yellow-red dots due to the glow of warm dust. The very center glows especially brightly in the infrared, highlighting an enormous burst of star formation occurring in this tiny region. To either side of the center, a small bar of dust and gas is helping to fuel this central star formation.

Data from Spitzers infrared array camera (IRAC) are shown in blue (3.6 and 4.5 microns) and green (5.8 and 8.0 microns) while the multiband imaging photometer (MIPS) observation is red (24 microns).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3669-sig11-009-A-Twisted-Star-Forming-Web-in-the-Galaxy-IC-342

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
IC 342
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Galaxy > Type > Barred
Galaxy > Activity > Starburst

Distance

Universescale2
10,700,000 light years
Spitzer_sig11-009_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 3h 46m 15.0s
DEC = 68° 8’ 13.7”
Orientation
North is 139.1° CCW
Field of View
33.3 x 28.4 arcminutes
Constellation
Camelopardalis

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 5.8 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Red Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 24.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Blue
Green
Green
Red
Spitzer_sig11-009_1280
×
ID
sig11-009
Subject Category
C.5.1.1   C.5.1.2   C.5.3.3  
Subject Name
IC 342
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Turner (UCLA)
Release Date
2011-07-20
Lightyears
10,700,000
Redshift
0.000103
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3669-sig11-009-A-Twisted-Star-Forming-Web-in-the-Galaxy-IC-342
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, MIPS
Color Assignment
Blue, Blue, Green, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 5800, 8000, 24000
Start Time
2005-10-29T13:19, 2005-10-29T13:19, 2005-10-29T13:19, 2005-10-29T13:19, 2004-02-26T14:23
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
56.562563, 68.137136
Reference Dimension
1637, 1399
Reference Pixel
819.233436, 699.874995
Scale
-3.38890000000000e-04, 3.38890000000000e-04
Rotation
139.09609
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig11-009.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-01
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
10,700,000 light years

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