IC 3081
IC 3081
IC 3081 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo about 51 million ly from Earth. It spans roughly 11,000 ly, about 11% of our Milky Way's width. The light reaching us tonight left it about 51 million years ago.
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E-S0
51 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
11k ly
across
15.0
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 51 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3081 as it looked roughly 51 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 4302Spiral2.3 million ly
apartNGC 4436Lenticular2.7 million ly
apartNGC 4390Spiral2.9 million ly
apartNGC 4298Spiral3.0 million ly
apartNGC 4429Lenticular3.2 million ly
apartIC 3313Elliptical3.6 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 4436Lenticular2.7 million ly
apartNGC 4390Spiral2.9 million ly
apartNGC 4298Spiral3.0 million ly
apartNGC 4429Lenticular3.2 million ly
apartIC 3313Elliptical3.6 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).