NGC 251
NGC 251
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Spiral
type · Sc
213 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
107k ly
across
12.6
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 213 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 251 as it looked roughly 213 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 354Barred spiral18 million ly
apartNGC 169Spiral19 million ly
apartNGC 169ALenticular20 million ly
apartNGC 234Spiral20 million ly
apartNGC 214Spiral23 million ly
apartNGC 304Lenticular27 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 169Spiral19 million ly
apartNGC 169ALenticular20 million ly
apartNGC 234Spiral20 million ly
apartNGC 214Spiral23 million ly
apartNGC 304Lenticular27 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).