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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                  2026 January 8   
      
                      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   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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