IC 46
IC 46
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E-S0
247 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
58k ly
across
14.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 247 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 46 as it looked roughly 247 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 260Spiral7.5 million ly
apartNGC 184Spiral11 million ly
apartNGC 183Elliptical11 million ly
apartNGC 252Lenticular15 million ly
apartNGC 181Lenticular15 million ly
apartNGC 160Lenticular16 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 184Spiral11 million ly
apartNGC 183Elliptical11 million ly
apartNGC 252Lenticular15 million ly
apartNGC 181Lenticular15 million ly
apartNGC 160Lenticular16 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).