NGC 538
NGC 538
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Barred spiral
type · SBab
248 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
100k ly
across
14.6
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 248 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 538 as it looked roughly 248 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 519Elliptical1.1 million ly
apartNGC 545Elliptical1.4 million ly
apartNGC 543Elliptical2.8 million ly
apartNGC 548Elliptical4.0 million ly
apartNGC 541Elliptical5.0 million ly
apartNGC 560Lenticular7.9 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 545Elliptical1.4 million ly
apartNGC 543Elliptical2.8 million ly
apartNGC 548Elliptical4.0 million ly
apartNGC 541Elliptical5.0 million ly
apartNGC 560Lenticular7.9 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).