NGC 6251
NGC 6251
Illustration from its catalogued shape, not a photograph
Elliptical
type · E
279 million ly
from Earth · from redshift
136k ly
across
14.0
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 279 million ly from home, you are seeing NGC 6251 as it looked roughly 279 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 6252Spiral23 million ly
apartIC 1143Elliptical26 million ly
apartIC 1139Galaxy34 million ly
apartPolarissima BorealisLenticular36 million ly
apartNGC 5712Elliptical49 million ly
apartIC 4470Barred spiral52 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartIC 1143Elliptical26 million ly
apartIC 1139Galaxy34 million ly
apartPolarissima BorealisLenticular36 million ly
apartNGC 5712Elliptical49 million ly
apartIC 4470Barred spiral52 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).