Galaxies · Supergiant elliptical galaxy

IC 1101

1 billion light-years · Light crosses it in 4 million years

Across
4.0 million light-years
Vs Earth
40× Milky Way

Open IC 1101 in Cosmic Scale

In the app, IC 1101 is part of the Beyond pack.

About

IC 1101 sits at the centre of a rich galaxy cluster and is one of the largest galaxies known. It is a supergiant elliptical: no spiral arms, little new star formation, just a vast swarm of ageing stars built up by swallowing smaller galaxies.

One of the largest galaxies known; estimates of its full extent range up to 4 million light-years.

At a glance

DistanceAbout 1 billion light-years
StarsPerhaps 100 trillion
Central black holeTens of billions of Suns
Discovered1790, William Herschel

Did you know

  1. Its size is quoted anywhere from 600,000 to 4 million light-years, depending on where you decide its faint halo ends.
  2. Most of its stars are old and red; it has largely stopped making new ones.
  3. It grew by cannibalising other galaxies in its cluster over billions of years.