IC 2497

IC 2497 is a spiral galaxy^[3] close to the intergalactic cloud Hanny's Voorwerp.^[1] The galaxy is a former quasar, whose light lit up Hanny's Voorwerp, which is now a light echo of that extinct quasar.^[4] It is about 45,000–70,000 light-years (14,000–21,000 pc) away from Hanny's Voorwerp.^[5] The quasar shut down sometime in the last 70,000 years.^[6] This revises current theories of quasar operation, as the quasar is quiescent, shutting down much faster than was thought possible,^[7] and is much cooler than predicted.^[5] The galaxy is currently 100 to 10,000 times dimmer than it was when its quasar burned into Hanny's Voorwerp.^[8]

IC 2497
IC 2497 with Hanny's Voorwerp by HST Credit: NASA, ESA, W. Keel (University of Alabama), and the Galaxy Zoo Team
Observation data (J2000.0[1] epoch)
Constellation	Leo Minor [2]
Right ascension	09h 41m 04.076s [1]
Declination	+34° 43′ 58.57″ [1]
Redshift	0.051633 [1]
Distance	650 Mly (199.29 Mpc)
Characteristics
Apparent size (V)	0.390' × 0.320' [1]
Other designations
IRAS 09380+3457, 2MASX J09410407+3443585, IC 2497, LEDA 165538, PGC 165538

One supernova has been observed in IC 2497: SN 2020ilb (type Ia, mag. 19) was discovered on 29 April 2020.^[9]