NGC 491
NGC 491
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Barred spiral
type · SBb
181 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
71k ly
across
12.6
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 181 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 491 as it looked roughly 181 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 491ASpiral13 million ly
apartIC 1724Lenticular14 million ly
apartIC 1657Barred spiral15 million ly
apartIC 1722Spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 424Lenticular21 million ly
apartIC 1608Lenticular21 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 1724Lenticular14 million ly
apartIC 1657Barred spiral15 million ly
apartIC 1722Spiral17 million ly
apartNGC 424Lenticular21 million ly
apartIC 1608Lenticular21 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).