NGC 3946
NGC 3946
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0-a
311 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
60k ly
across
14.4
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 311 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 3946 as it looked roughly 311 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 3937Elliptical2.4 million ly
apartIC 2968Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 3943Barred spiral7.7 million ly
apartNGC 3940Elliptical10 million ly
apartIC 742Spiral12 million ly
apartNGC 4002Spiral13 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 2968Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 3943Barred spiral7.7 million ly
apartNGC 3940Elliptical10 million ly
apartIC 742Spiral12 million ly
apartNGC 4002Spiral13 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).