IC 4256
IC 4256
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Barred spiral
type · Sb
317 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
61k ly
across
15.5
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 317 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 4256 as it looked roughly 317 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 5131Spiral4.5 million ly
apartIC 4238Spiral5.5 million ly
apartIC 4227Barred spiral11 million ly
apartIC 4242Barred spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 5052Lenticular18 million ly
apartNGC 5187Barred spiral18 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 4238Spiral5.5 million ly
apartIC 4227Barred spiral11 million ly
apartIC 4242Barred spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 5052Lenticular18 million ly
apartNGC 5187Barred spiral18 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).