NGC 4978
NGC 4978
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0-a
302 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
133k ly
across
14.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 302 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 4978 as it looked roughly 302 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
IC 857Barred spiral17 million ly
apartIC 870Spiral19 million ly
apartIC 868Elliptical19 million ly
apartIC 4039Barred spiral22 million ly
apartNGC 4935Barred spiral22 million ly
apartIC 827Spiral23 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 870Spiral19 million ly
apartIC 868Elliptical19 million ly
apartIC 4039Barred spiral22 million ly
apartNGC 4935Barred spiral22 million ly
apartIC 827Spiral23 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).