NGC 3971
NGC 3971
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0
317 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
97k ly
across
13.1
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 317 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 3971 as it looked roughly 317 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
IC 2967Elliptical7.5 million ly
apartIC 3007Elliptical16 million ly
apartNGC 3988Elliptical17 million ly
apartIC 2999Spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 3891Barred spiral25 million ly
apartNGC 4211ALenticular27 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 3007Elliptical16 million ly
apartNGC 3988Elliptical17 million ly
apartIC 2999Spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 3891Barred spiral25 million ly
apartNGC 4211ALenticular27 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).