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The spiral galaxy known as NGC 2403 is a member of the M81 group of galaxies.  It is located about 12 million light years from our own Milky Way Galaxy and can be found in the constellation Camelopardalis, the Giraffe. 

Using one of the Palomar Schmidt telescopes, Fritz Zwicky discovered a supernova, 1954J, in this galaxy on October 24, 1954.  Recent research suggests that Zwicky may not have discovered a supernova at all.  Instead he may have seen the outburst of a very massive luminous blue variable star located within NGC 2403.  This outburst is likely similar to what astronomers have observed taking place at the star known as eta Carinae located within our own galaxy.

This image was captured on the night of March 11, 2004 by David Thompson of the California Institute of Technology.  He used the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch Hale Telescope with its Wide-field Infrared Camera (WIRC). The image was recorded in two near-infrared wavelengths: "J" centered at 1.250 microns and "Ks" at 2.150.  The J image was mapped to blue and Ks to red to make this false color image.

The research was based on observations obtained at the Hale Telescope, Palomar Observatory, as part of a collaborative agreement between the California Institute of Technology, its divisions Caltech Optical Observatories and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (operated for NASA), and Cornell University. Images are copyrighted by their respective owners. Contact the photographers directly for permission to use their images for any purpose.