IC 3968
IC 3968
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E-S0
284 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
36k ly
across
15.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 284 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 3968 as it looked roughly 284 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 4840Elliptical3.9 million ly
apartNGC 4850Lenticular4.1 million ly
apartNGC 4934Lenticular4.2 million ly
apartIC 3990Spiral4.7 million ly
apartIC 3991Elliptical5.8 million ly
apartNGC 4896Elliptical6.8 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 4850Lenticular4.1 million ly
apartNGC 4934Lenticular4.2 million ly
apartIC 3990Spiral4.7 million ly
apartIC 3991Elliptical5.8 million ly
apartNGC 4896Elliptical6.8 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).