IC 51
IC 51
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0
80 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
40k ly
across
13.8
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 80 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 51 as it looked roughly 80 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 210Spiral4.8 million ly
apartNGC 255Barred spiral6.8 million ly
apartNGC 157Spiral8.5 million ly
apartNGC 275Barred spiral9.1 million ly
apartNGC 298Spiral9.3 million ly
apartNGC 274Elliptical9.3 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 255Barred spiral6.8 million ly
apartNGC 157Spiral8.5 million ly
apartNGC 275Barred spiral9.1 million ly
apartNGC 298Spiral9.3 million ly
apartNGC 274Elliptical9.3 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).