NGC 4996
NGC 4996
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0-a
253 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
133k ly
across
14.3
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 253 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 4996 as it looked roughly 253 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 850Barred spiral8.0 million ly
apartIC 849Spiral8.3 million ly
apartNGC 4999Barred spiral10 million ly
apartNGC 5104Spiral14 million ly
apartIC 4224Barred spiral19 million ly
apartIC 4218Barred spiral24 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 849Spiral8.3 million ly
apartNGC 4999Barred spiral10 million ly
apartNGC 5104Spiral14 million ly
apartIC 4224Barred spiral19 million ly
apartIC 4218Barred spiral24 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).