[1][5] Note that Karachentsev divides this group into two subgroups centered around IC 342 and Maffei 1.

[1] As seen from Earth, the group lies near the plane of the Milky Way (a region sometimes called the Zone of Avoidance).

Consequently, the light from many of the galaxies is severely affected by dust obscuration within the Milky Way.

This complicates observational studies of the group, as uncertainties in the dust obscuration also affect measurements of the galaxies' luminosities and distances as well as other related quantities.

[7][11] More recent observations have demonstrated that the dust obscuration may have been previously overestimated, so the distances may have been underestimated.