NGC 3281
NGC 3281
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Spiral
type · Sab
150 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
135k ly
across
11.9
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 150 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 3281 as it looked roughly 150 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 3257Elliptical2.7 million ly
apartNGC 3275Spiral5.3 million ly
apartNGC 3258EBarred spiral6.7 million ly
apartNGC 3347BBarred spiral7.7 million ly
apartIC 2580Spiral9.3 million ly
apartNGC 3249Spiral10 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 3275Spiral5.3 million ly
apartNGC 3258EBarred spiral6.7 million ly
apartNGC 3347BBarred spiral7.7 million ly
apartIC 2580Spiral9.3 million ly
apartNGC 3249Spiral10 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).