IC 685
IC 685
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
1.2 billion ly
from Earth · from redshift
239k ly
across
16.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 1.2 billion ly from home, you are seeing IC 685 as it looked roughly 1.2 billion 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 2725Elliptical95 million ly
apartIC 2900Barred spiral110 million ly
apartIC 2771Spiral110 million ly
apartIC 2788Galaxy120 million ly
apartIC 2734Barred spiral130 million ly
apartIC 2845Lenticular130 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 2900Barred spiral110 million ly
apartIC 2771Spiral110 million ly
apartIC 2788Galaxy120 million ly
apartIC 2734Barred spiral130 million ly
apartIC 2845Lenticular130 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).