NGC 540
NGC 540
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Lenticular
type · S0
479 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
114k ly
across
15.7
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 479 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 540 as it looked roughly 479 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 555Lenticular23 million ly
apartNGC 539Spiral29 million ly
apartNGC 556Elliptical33 million ly
apartNGC 648Elliptical38 million ly
apartNGC 554ALenticular40 million ly
apartIC 1667Spiral55 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartNGC 539Spiral29 million ly
apartNGC 556Elliptical33 million ly
apartNGC 648Elliptical38 million ly
apartNGC 554ALenticular40 million ly
apartIC 1667Spiral55 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).