NGC 3981
NGC 3981
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Barred spiral
type · Sbc
81 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
79k ly
across
11.7
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 81 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 3981 as it looked roughly 81 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 4027AIrregular1.4 million ly
apartNGC 3957Lenticular2.6 million ly
apartNGC 4027Barred spiral4.0 million ly
apartAntennae GalaxiesBarred spiral4.0 million ly
apartNGC 4024Elliptical4.3 million ly
apartNGC 3956Barred spiral4.4 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 3957Lenticular2.6 million ly
apartNGC 4027Barred spiral4.0 million ly
apartAntennae GalaxiesBarred spiral4.0 million ly
apartNGC 4024Elliptical4.3 million ly
apartNGC 3956Barred spiral4.4 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).