IC 2540
IC 2540
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E-S0
305 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
81k ly
across
15.2
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 305 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 2540 as it looked roughly 305 million years ago. The photons left before that much of history had passed, and are only now reaching us. This distance is estimated from the galaxy's redshift, so the lookback time is approximate.
Nearest galaxies
NGC 3116Elliptical8.7 million ly
apartNGC 3071Lenticular11 million ly
apartNGC 3106Lenticular17 million ly
apartNGC 3068Elliptical18 million ly
apartIC 2519Elliptical21 million ly
apartIC 2542Barred spiral24 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 3071Lenticular11 million ly
apartNGC 3106Lenticular17 million ly
apartNGC 3068Elliptical18 million ly
apartIC 2519Elliptical21 million ly
apartIC 2542Barred spiral24 million ly
apart
Source: structural data (position, morphology, brightness, redshift) from OpenNGC (CC BY-SA). Distance computed by gravityfinder from redshift via Hubble's law (H0 = 70 km/s/Mpc).