IC 491
IC 491
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Spiral
type · Sc
304 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
57k ly
across
15.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 304 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 491 as it looked roughly 304 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 2492Elliptical8.4 million ly
apartIC 2213Lenticular13 million ly
apartNGC 2490Elliptical14 million ly
apartIC 493Barred spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 2540Spiral17 million ly
apartIC 2239Lenticular28 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 2213Lenticular13 million ly
apartNGC 2490Elliptical14 million ly
apartIC 493Barred spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 2540Spiral17 million ly
apartIC 2239Lenticular28 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).