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Galaxy · Spiral

IC 1901

IC 1901 is a galaxy in the direction of the constellation Perseus, 246.1 million light-years away.

TypeSpiral
ConstellationPerseus
Distance246.1 million light-years (75.46 Mpc)
Diameter97,900 light-years · 1.1 × the Milky Way
Absolute magnitudemagnitude −21.12
Apparent magnitudemagnitude 13.27
Luminosity1.2 × the Milky Way
Right ascension (J2000)3h 16m 02.6s
Declination (J2000)+37° 06′ 45″
Source2MASS Redshift Survey (Huchra et al. 2012)

In the sky

A telescope is needed to see it: its apparent magnitude is 13.27. Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 53° S. North of latitude 53° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in November, the best time to observe it.

Through a telescope from Earth

Light's journey

The light you see tonight set out 246 million years ago. At that time complex animals were spreading through the seas and over the land; there were no dinosaurs yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 4,366.0 billion years.

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