NGC 5540
NGC 5540
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
511 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
164k ly
across
14.7
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 511 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 5540 as it looked roughly 511 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 5561Barred spiral46 million ly
apartIC 942Elliptical51 million ly
apartIC 919Lenticular58 million ly
apartNGC 5779Lenticular61 million ly
apartIC 1069Lenticular68 million ly
apartNGC 5413Elliptical77 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 942Elliptical51 million ly
apartIC 919Lenticular58 million ly
apartNGC 5779Lenticular61 million ly
apartIC 1069Lenticular68 million ly
apartNGC 5413Elliptical77 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).