Universe FinderFly · Explore · Discover
On the left side of the image is a spiral galaxy, on the right the inset shows a zoom in with dark red stars and dust and gas.
Hubble · Caldwell 5 · NASA, ESA, and P. Kaaret (University of Iowa); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Caldwell 5

Galaxy in Camelopardalis · 11 million light-years

🔭 Explore Caldwell 5 in the 3D map →View Caldwell 5 images →
TypeGalaxy
ConstellationCamelopardalis
Right ascension3h 46m 49s
Declination+68° 06′
Object distance11 million light-years
Apparent size19.8′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter63,355 light-years across
Also known asC5 · IC 342
Caldwell 5 is a galaxy (IC 342) in the constellation Camelopardalis — a distant island of stars far beyond the Milky Way. It appears as number 5 in the Caldwell catalogue, Sir Patrick Moore's 1995 list of 109 bright deep-sky objects for amateur astronomers. It spans roughly 19.8 arc-minutes on the sky. It is one of the showpiece objects Sir Patrick Moore chose for his Caldwell list of bright targets the Messier catalogue left out.

Although it appears about 19.8′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 63,355 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing Caldwell 5

Caldwell 5 lies in the constellation Camelopardalis and is best placed in the evening sky around November. Its maximum altitude above the horizon depends on your latitude. It sits far enough north to be circumpolar from mid-northern latitudes, and never rises for most of the southern hemisphere. Note that the listed magnitude is spread across the whole object — diffuse galaxies and nebulae are often harder to see than the number alone suggests, so dark, moonless skies help a great deal.

See Caldwell 5 in Universe Finder

Open the interactive 3D map to fly to Caldwell 5 and see it in context among the real stars around it. Launch the 3D view →

Sources

Related objects