IC 987
IC 987
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Barred spiral
type · SBb
198 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
35k ly
across
15.4
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 198 million ly from home, you are seeing IC 987 as it looked roughly 198 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 5505Barred spiral20 million ly
apartNGC 5522Barred spiral21 million ly
apartNGC 5581Elliptical24 million ly
apartNGC 5518Elliptical24 million ly
apartIC 4397Barred spiral27 million ly
apartIC 1020Lenticular28 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 5522Barred spiral21 million ly
apartNGC 5581Elliptical24 million ly
apartNGC 5518Elliptical24 million ly
apartIC 4397Barred spiral27 million ly
apartIC 1020Lenticular28 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).