NGC 972
NGC 972
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Spiral
type · Sab
72 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
69k ly
across
11.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 72 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 972 as it looked roughly 72 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 1056Spiral2.8 million ly
apartNGC 1198Elliptical18 million ly
apartNGC 821Elliptical27 million ly
apartNGC 864Spiral30 million ly
apartNGC 1161Lenticular31 million ly
apartNGC 676Lenticular32 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 1198Elliptical18 million ly
apartNGC 821Elliptical27 million ly
apartNGC 864Spiral30 million ly
apartNGC 1161Lenticular31 million ly
apartNGC 676Lenticular32 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).