IC 3494
IC 3494
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
340 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
30k ly
across
17.1
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 340 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3494 as it looked roughly 340 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 3587Barred spiral5.2 million ly
apartNGC 4563Elliptical5.9 million ly
apartIC 3560Barred spiral6.1 million ly
apartIC 3556Lenticular6.5 million ly
apartNGC 4475Barred spiral6.5 million ly
apartIC 3585Lenticular7.5 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 4563Elliptical5.9 million ly
apartIC 3560Barred spiral6.1 million ly
apartIC 3556Lenticular6.5 million ly
apartNGC 4475Barred spiral6.5 million ly
apartIC 3585Lenticular7.5 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).