IC 3509
IC 3509
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
96 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
28k ly
across
14.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 96 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3509 as it looked roughly 96 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 3358Elliptical3.6 million ly
apartIC 3562Irregular3.7 million ly
apartIC 3486Elliptical4.0 million ly
apartNGC 4352Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 4641Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 4476Elliptical4.8 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 3562Irregular3.7 million ly
apartIC 3486Elliptical4.0 million ly
apartNGC 4352Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 4641Lenticular4.5 million ly
apartNGC 4476Elliptical4.8 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).