Gazing into the vast expanse of the universe, our telescopes unveil a multitude of galaxies, each with its own story to tell. Amongst these celestial wonders lies NGC 4747, a barred spiral galaxy that holds a unique place in the cosmos. In this blog, we embark on a captivating journey to explore the depths of NGC 4747, unraveling its distance, age, size, and the fascinating dance it participates in with its neighbors. A Glimpse from Afar: Distance and Size NGC 4747 resides roughly 35 million light-years away from Earth, a staggering distance that translates to traveling at the speed of light for 35 million years! Despite its immense remoteness, astronomers can discern its majestic form through powerful telescopes. While it appears relatively small in our night sky with an apparent size of 3.5 x 1.2 arcminutes, its true scale is mind-boggling. Estimates suggest that NGC 4747 boasts a diameter of around 35,000 light-years, a vast expanse where stars are born, live, and die. A Journ...
“The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can't imagine”