IC 3171
IC 3171
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
320 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
86k ly
across
14.6
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 320 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3171 as it looked roughly 320 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 3144Barred spiral3.2 million ly
apartIC 3203Barred spiral3.4 million ly
apartIC 3116Spiral4.1 million ly
apartIC 3184Barred spiral4.4 million ly
apartIC 3122Barred spiral5.0 million ly
apartIC 780Elliptical5.2 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 3203Barred spiral3.4 million ly
apartIC 3116Spiral4.1 million ly
apartIC 3184Barred spiral4.4 million ly
apartIC 3122Barred spiral5.0 million ly
apartIC 780Elliptical5.2 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).