IC 3218
IC 3218
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
49 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
9k ly
across
15.7
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 49 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3218 as it looked roughly 49 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 4309Lenticular460,000 ly
apartNGC 4434Elliptical1.9 million ly
apartNGC 4343Barred spiral2.3 million ly
apartIC 3328Elliptical3.1 million ly
apartNGC 4580Spiral3.6 million ly
apartIC 3576Spiral3.6 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 4434Elliptical1.9 million ly
apartNGC 4343Barred spiral2.3 million ly
apartIC 3328Elliptical3.1 million ly
apartNGC 4580Spiral3.6 million ly
apartIC 3576Spiral3.6 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).