IC 161
IC 161
IC 161 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Pisces about 251 million ly from Earth. It spans roughly 66,000 ly, about 66% of our Milky Way's width. The light reaching us tonight left it about 251 million years ago.
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0-a
251 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
66k ly
across
14.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 251 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 161 as it looked roughly 251 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 156Spiral3.5 million ly
apartNGC 665Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 683Barred spiral8.2 million ly
apartIC 154Barred spiral8.8 million ly
apartNGC 673Spiral11 million ly
apartIC 1723Barred spiral11 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 665Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 683Barred spiral8.2 million ly
apartIC 154Barred spiral8.8 million ly
apartNGC 673Spiral11 million ly
apartIC 1723Barred spiral11 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).