NGC 4581
NGC 4581
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
86 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
41k ly
across
12.4
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 86 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 4581 as it looked roughly 86 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 4599Lenticular1.3 million ly
apartNGC 4536Spiral2.5 million ly
apartNGC 4533Spiral4.8 million ly
apartNGC 4632Spiral6.3 million ly
apartNGC 4496ASpiral6.9 million ly
apartNGC 4409Barred spiral7.3 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 4536Spiral2.5 million ly
apartNGC 4533Spiral4.8 million ly
apartNGC 4632Spiral6.3 million ly
apartNGC 4496ASpiral6.9 million ly
apartNGC 4409Barred spiral7.3 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).