IC 3973
IC 3973
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0
219 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
49k ly
across
14.4
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 219 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3973 as it looked roughly 219 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 4894Lenticular3.4 million ly
apartNGC 4867Elliptical5.2 million ly
apartNGC 4865Elliptical6.1 million ly
apartNGC 4738Spiral8.1 million ly
apartNGC 4908Elliptical13 million ly
apartIC 818Barred spiral13 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 4867Elliptical5.2 million ly
apartNGC 4865Elliptical6.1 million ly
apartNGC 4738Spiral8.1 million ly
apartNGC 4908Elliptical13 million ly
apartIC 818Barred spiral13 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).