The Cosmos with NGC 4691

NGC 4691 is a lenticular galaxy in the New General Catalog . Sailing in the sky is in the direction of the constellation. 47.5 in 1784 by British astronomer William Herschel   cm (18.7 inches) in diameter.

The entire spiral pattern of NGC 4691 is extremely fuzzy and devoid of any signs of youth. It looks like it is billions of years old. The bar, by contrast, is bursting with ongoing star formation. This is very unusual!

According to Principal Galaxy Catalog, the distance to NGC 4691 is about 47 million light-years, which would make it a little closer than the Virgo Cluster, and its true brightness would be 6 billion stars like the Sun, or 0.3 times the brightness of the Milky Way. But according to this page, NGC 4691 is located some 73 million light-years away, and its true brightness would be much higher.

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