NGC 6987
NGC 6987
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
245 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
145k ly
across
12.4
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 245 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 6987 as it looked roughly 245 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 6970Barred spiral4.4 million ly
apartNGC 7038Spiral19 million ly
apartNGC 6918Lenticular20 million ly
apartNGC 7014Elliptical21 million ly
apartNGC 6983Spiral22 million ly
apartNGC 6982Barred spiral27 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 7038Spiral19 million ly
apartNGC 6918Lenticular20 million ly
apartNGC 7014Elliptical21 million ly
apartNGC 6983Spiral22 million ly
apartNGC 6982Barred spiral27 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).