IC 342 is positioned only 10 degrees above the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, so its light is heavily obscured and reddened by dust. This also explains why it it is not a very well-known object for early visual observers such as Messier. It is a comparatively close 7M light-years away but is not part of our Local Group of galaxies. This image is an LRGB composite of 12.5 hours, taken with a 12.5" PlaneWave telescope and an SBIG ST-2K camera from a semi-rural site near Anza, CA.
Bruce Waddington