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Aerospace and Astronometric Distances

by John R. Carlsen (updated 12 September 2022)

The table below includes notable distances from Earth’s surface used in aerospace and astronomy and their correlations, with Earth at the bottom and the farthest distance at the top, normalized to kilometers, and somewhat logarithmic in scale. (The table may be printed.)

Astronometry Table 1: An Ordered Survey of Aerospace and Astronometric Distances
Mean Distance/Altitude † Orbit Boundary Sphere Medium Space Proximity
         
~93 Gly (~8.8×1023 km) extent of observable universe (2020)   ↑
intergalactic medium (IGM): galaxy filaments in void
↓		 ↑
intergalactic space (extragalactic space)
↓		 ↑
deep space
↓
     
~4 Gly (~3.8×1022 km) Saraswati Supercluster (discovered 2017)  
     
~700 Mly (~6.6×1021 km) nearest edge of Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster  
~520 Mly (~4.9×1021 km) size of Local/Laniakea Supercluster (announced 2014)  
~200 Mly (~1.9×1021 km) Great Attractor (discovered 1986)
center of Local/Laniakea Supercluster		  
           
~83.5 Mly (~7.9×1020 km) Messier 109 (M109, NGC 3992; discovered 1781)        
~63 Mly (~6.0×1020 km) Messier 91 (M91, NGC 4548; discovered 1781)        
62 Mly (~5.9×1020 km) Messier 58 (M58, NGC 4579; discovered 1779)        
~60 Mly (~5.7×1020 km) Messier 85 (M85, NGC 4382; discovered 1781)        
~58.7 Mly (~5.6×1020 km) Messier 90 (M90, NGC 4569; discovered 1781)        
~56.7 Mly (~5.4×1020 km) Messier 60 (M60, NGC 4649; discovered 1779)        
~56 Mly (~5.3×1020 km) Messier 49 (M49, NGC 4472; discovered 1771)        
55 Mly (~5.2×1020 km) Messier 100 (M100, NGC 4321; discovered 1781)        
54.9 Mly (~5.2×1020 km) Messier 84 (M84, NGC 4374; discovered 178 1)        
~52.5 Mly (~5.0×1020 km) Messier 61 (M61, NGC 4303; discovered 1779)        
~52 Mly (~4.9×1020 km) Messier 86 (M86, NGC 4406; discovered 1781)        
~50.1 Mly (~4.7×1020 km) Messier 59 (M59, NGC 4621; discovered 1779)        
~50 Mly (~4.7×1020 km) Messier 89 (M89, NGC 4552; discovered 1781)
Messier 102 (M102, NGC 5866; discovered 1781)		        
~47.5 Mly (~4.5×1020 km) Messier 88 (M88, NGC 4501; discovered 1781)        
47 Mly (~4.4×1020 km) Cetus A (M77, NGC 1068; discovered 1780)        
46 Mly (~4.6×1020 km) Messier 108 (M108, NGC 3556; discovered 1781)        
45.2 Mly (~4.3×1020 km) Messier 99 (M99, NGC 4254; discovered 1781)        
44.4 Mly (~4.2×1020 km) Messier 98 (M98, NGC 4192; discovered 1781)        
36.6 Mly (~3.5×1020 km) Messier 105 (M105, NGC 3379; discovered 1781)        
35 Mly (~3.3×1020 km) Messier 65 (M65, NGC 3623; discovered 1780)        
~32.6 Mly (~3.1×1020 km) Messier 95 (M95, NGC 3351; discovered 1781)        
31 Mly (~2.9×1020 km) Messier 66 (M66, NGC 3627; discovered 1780)
Messier 96 (M96, NGC 3368; discovered 1781)		        
~30 Mly (~2.8×1020 km) Phantom Galaxy (M74, NGC 628; discovered 1780)        
29.3 Mly (~2.8×1020 km) Sunflower Galaxy (M63, NGC 5055; discovered 1779)        
~24 Mly (~2.3×1020 km) Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194; discovered 1773)
NGC 5195 (M51b, NGC 5195; discovered 1781)		        
23.7 Mly (~2.2×1020 km) Messier 106 (M106, NGC 4258; discovered 1781)        
20.9 Mly (~2.0×1020 km) Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457; discovered 1781)        
17.3 Mly (~1.6×1020 km) Black Eye Galaxy (M64, NGC 4826; discovered 1779)        
16.4 Mly (~1.6×1020 km) Virgo A (M87, NGC 4486; discovered 1781)        
~16.0 Mly (~1.5×1020 km) Messier 94 (M94, NGC 4736; discovered 1781)        
14.7 Mly (~1.4×1020 km) Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83, NGC 5236; discovered 1752)        
~11.9 Mly (~1.1×1020 km) Cigar Galaxy (M82, NGC 3034; discovered 1774)        
~11.8 Mly (~1.1×1020 km) Bode’s Galaxy (M81, NGC 3031; discovered 1774)        
~9.8 Mly (~9.3×1019 km) extent of Local Group/start of Local Void        
~9.55 Mly (~9.0×1019 km) Sombrero Galaxy (M104, NGC 4594; discovered 1781)        
~2.73 Mly (~2.6×1019 km) Triangulum Galaxy (M33, NGC 598; discovered 1654)        
~2.54 Mly (~2.4×1019 km) Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224; ancient)        
~2.49 Mly (~2.4×1019 km) Messier 32 (M32, NGC 221; discovered 1749)        
           
87.4 kly (~8.3×1017 km) Messier 54 (M54, NGC 6715; discovered 1778)        
~86 kly (~8.2×1017 km) far edge of Milky Way ‡        
       
68 kly (~6.4×1017 km) Messier 75 (M75, NGC 6864; discovered 1780)        
~58 kly (~5.5×1017 km) Messier 53 (M53, NGC 5024; discovered 1775)        
~54.57 kly (~5.2×1017 km) Messier 72 (M72, NGC 6981; discovered 1780)        
42 kly (~4.0×1017 km) Messier 79 (M79, NGC 1904; discovered 1780)        
33.9 kly (~3.2×1017 km) Messier 3 (M3, NGC 5272; discovered 1764)        
33.6 kly (~3.2×1017 km) Messier 68 (M68, NGC 6779; discovered 1780)        
33 kly (~3.1×1017 km) Messier 2 (M2, NGC 7089; discovered 1746)
Messier 15 (M15, NGC 7078; discovered 1746)		        
32.9 kly (~3.1×1017 km) Messier 56 (M56, NGC 6779; discovered 1779)        
32.6 kly (~3.1×1017 km) Messier 80 (M80, NGC 6093; discovered 1780)        
30.3 kly (~2.9×1017 km) Messier 14 (M14, NGC 6402; discovered 1746)        
29.4 kly (~2.8×1017 km) Messier 70 (M70, NGC 6681; discovered 1780)        
29 kly (~2.7×1017 km) Messier 69 (M69, NGC 6637; discovered 1780)        
28.7.3 kly (~2.7×1017 km) Messier 19 (M19, NGC 6273; discovered 1764)        
~27.2 kly (~2.7×1017 km) Galactic Center        
~27.14 kly (~2.6×1017 km) Messier 30 (M30, NGC 7099; discovered 1764)        
26.7 kly (~2.5×1017 km) Messier 92 (M92, NGC 6341; discovered 1777)        
25.8 kly (~2.4×1017 km) Messier 9 (M9, NGC 6333; discovered 1764)        
24.5 kly (~2.3×1017 km) Messier 5 (M5, NGC 5904; discovered 1702)        
22.2 kly (~2.1×1017 km) Hercules Globular Cluster (M13, NGC 6205; discovered 1764)
Messier 62 (M62, NGC 6266; discovered 1771)		        
20.9 kly (~2.0×1017 km) Messier 107 (M107, NGC 6171; discovered 1782)        
17.9 kly (~1.7×1017 km) Messier 28 (M28, NGC 6626; discovered 1764)        
17.6 kly (~1.7×1017 km) Messier 55 (M55, NGC 6809; discovered 1752)        
15.7 kly (~1.5×1017 km) Messier 12 (M12, NGC 6218; discovered 1764)        
14.3 kly (~1.4×1017 km) Messier 10 (M10, NGC 6254; discovered 1764)        
13.0 kly (~1.2×1017 km) Messier 71 (M71, NGC 6838; discovered 1780)        
10.6 kly (~1.0×1017 km) Sagittarius Cluster (M22, NGC 6656; discovered 1665)        
~10 kly (~9.5×1016 km) Sagittarius Star Cloud (M24, IC 4715; discovered 1764)
Messier 103 (M103, NGC 581; discovered 1781)		        
7.2 kly (~6.8×1016 km) Messier 4 (M4, NGC 6121; discovered 1745)
Cooling Tower (M29, NGC 6913; discovered 1764)		        
7 kly (~6.6×1016 km) Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611; discovered 1745)        
~6.5 kly (~6.1×1016 km) Crab Nebula (M1, NGC 1952; discovered 1731)        
6.12 kly (~5.8×1016 km) Wild Duck Cluster (M11, NGC 6705; discovered 1681)        
~5.5 kly (~5.2×1016 km) Omega Nebula (M17, NGC 6618; discovered 1745)        
5.2 kly (~4.9×1016 km) Trifid Nebula (M20, NGC 6514; discovered 1764)        
5.0 kly (~4.7×1016 km) Messier 26 (M26, NGC 6694; discovered 1764)        
4.92 kly (~4.7×1016 km) Messier 46 (M46, NGC 2437; discovered 1771)        
4.9 kly (~4.6×1016 km) Messier 18 (M18, NGC 6618; discovered 1764)        
4.6 kly (~4.4×1016 km) Messier 52 (M52, NGC 7654; discovered 1774)        
4.511 kly (~4.3×1016 km) Messier 37 (M37, NGC 2099; discovered 1654)        
4.25 kly (~4.0×1016 km) Messier 21 (M21, NGC 6531; discovered 1764)        
4.2 kly (~4.0×1016 km) Messier 38 (M38, NGC 1912; discovered 1654)        
4.1 kly (~3.9×1016 km) Lagoon Nebula (M8, NGC 6523; discovered 1654)
Messier 36 (M36, NGC 1960; discovered 1654)		        
3.38 kly (~3.2×1016 km) Messier 93 (M93, NGC 2447; discovered 1781)        
~3.0 kly (~2.8×1016 km) Messier 50 (M50, NGC 2323; discovered 1772)        
2.8 kly (~2.6×1016 km) Messier 35 (M35, NGC 2168; discovered 1745)        
~2.77 kly (~2.6×1016 km) Messier 67 (M67, NGC 2682; discovered 1779)        
2.567 kly (~2.4×1016 km) Ring Nebula (M57, NGC 6720; discovered 1779)        
2.5 kly (~2.4×1016 km) Messier 48 (M48, NGC 2548; discovered 1771)
Messier 73 (M73, NGC 6994; discovered 1780)
Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76, NGC 650/651; discovered 1780)		        
2.415 kly (~2.3×1016 km) Owl Nebula (M97, NGC 3587; discovered 1781)        
2.3 kly (~2.2×1016 km) Messier 41 (M41, NGC 2287; discovered 1654)        
2.15 kly (~2.0×1016 km) Messier 23 (M23, NGC 6494; discovered 1764)        
2.0 kly (~1.9×1016 km) Messier 25 (M25, IC 4725; discovered 1745)        
1.6 kly (~1.5×1016 km) Butterfly Cluster (M6, NGC 6405; discovered 1654)
De Mairan’s Nebula (M43, NGC 1982; discovered 1731)
Messier 47 (M47, NGC 2422; discovered 1771)		        
1.5 kly (~1.4×1016 km) Messier 34 (M34, NGC 1039; discovered 1654)        
1.35 kly (~1.3×1016 km) Messier 78 (M78, NGC 2068; discovered 1780)        
~1.344 kly (~1.3×1016 km) Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976; discovered 1610)        
1.227 kly (~1.2×1016 km) Dumbbell Nebula (M27, NGC 6853; discovered 1764)        
~1.14 ly (~1.1×1016 km) Winnecke 4 (A) (M40 A, HD 238107; discovered 1764, differentiated 2016)        
980 ly (~9.3×1015 km) Ptolemy Cluster (M7, NGC 6475; ancient)        
824.4 ly (~7.8×1015 km) Messier 39 (M39, NGC 7092; discovered 1749)        
610 ly (~5.8×1015 km) Beehive Cluster (M44, NGC 2632; ancient)        
~460 ly (~4.4×1015 km) Winnecke 4 (B) (M40 B, HD 238108; discovered 1764, differentiated 2016)        
~444 ly (~4.2×1015 km) Pleiades (M45, ancient)        
         
16.73 ly (~1.6×1014 km) Altair        
4.37 ly (~4.2×1013 km) α-Centauri (Alpha Centauri)        
4.244 ly (~4.0×1013 km) Proxima Centauri   ↑
interstellar medium (ISM)
↓		 ↑
interstellar space
↓		 ↑
deep space
↓
~200 kau (~3.0×1013 km) extent of Solar System  
 
1 ly=9,460,730,472,580.8 km   Oort Cloud
~2 kau (~3.0×1011 km)    
   
         
148 au (~2.2×1010 km) Voyager 1 (2020, launched 1977)        
125 au (~1.9×1010 km) Pioneer 10 (2020, launched 1972)        
123 au (~1.8×1010 km) Voyager 2 (2020, launched 1977)        
121 au (~1.8×1010 km) heliopause        
       
103 au (~1.5×1010 km) Pioneer 11 (2020, launched 1973)        
~50 au (~7.5×109 km)          
         
46 au (~6.9×109 km) New Horizons (2020, launched 2006) Kuiper belt      
39.482 au (~5.9×109 km) ♇ 134340 Pluto (R=1,188.3 km, discovered 1930)      
30.11 au (~4.5×109 km) ♆ Neptune (R=24,622 km, discovered 1846)        
       
19.2184 au (~2.9×109 km) ⛢ Uranus (R=25,362 km, discovered 1781)        
(~9.6 au) 1.43353×109 km  ♄ Saturn (R=58,232 km)        
(~5.2 au) 7.7857×108 km  ♃ Jupiter (R=69,911 km)   ↑
interplanetary medium (IPM)
↓		 ↑
interplanetary space
↓		 ↑
deep space
↓
     
~3.2 au (~4.8×108 km)    
   
    asteroid belt
~2.2 au (~3.3×108 km)    
   
(~1.5 au) 2.279392×108 km  ♂ Mars (R=3,389.5 km)        
1 au=149,597,870.7 km  ☉ Sun (R=695,700 km)        
0.723332 au (~1.1×108 km) ♀ Venus (R=6,051.8 km)        
0.387098 au (~5.8×107 km) ☿ Mercury (R=2,439.7 km)        
         
>6,300,000 (>6.3×106) km  night side magnetopause        
       
2,000,000 (2.0×106) km  ITU-R definition of deep space †        
       
~1,500,000 (~1.5×106) km  James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, launched 2021, positioned 2022) Sun-Earth L2 point
(extent of Earth’s Hill sphere)		       USA: deep
ITU-R: outer
~1,490,000 (~1.49×106) km  DSCOVR (heliocentric, launched 2015) Sun-Earth L1 point      
       
448,905 (~4.5×105) km  Earth-Moon L2 point ‡        
       
384,402 (~3.8×105) km  ☾ Moon (R=1,737.4 km)   ↑
night side: magnetosphere & geospace (IPM elsewhere)
↓		 ↑
cislunar space
↓		 ↑
outer space
↓
202,811 (~2.03×105) km  IBEX (launched 2008)    
192,201 (~1.9×105) km    halfway to Moon  
   
118,000 (1.18×105) km  Vela (launched 1963-1970)    
~90,000 (~9×104 km)   Earth’s bow shock
(~17 km thick)		  
  high Earth orbit (HEO)    
~10 RE (~6.4×104 km)   day side magnetopause        
       
~58,000 (~5.8×104) km             
           
35,786 (~3.6×104) km  geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) Van Allen radiation belts (discovered 1958) ↑
exosphere
↓		 ↑
magnetosphere & geospace
↓		 ↑
cislunar space
↓		 ↑
outer space
↓
~20,200 (~2.0×104) km  Global Positioning System (GPS) space vehicles
10,000 (1.0×104) km  medium Earth orbit (MEO)
2,000 (2.0×103) km           
           
~1,000 (~1.0×103) km             
low Earth orbit (LEO)   thermopause      
~640 (~6.4×102) km         
         
~500 (~5.0×102) km           
           
539 (~5.4×102) km  Hubble Space Telescope (HST)          
409 (~4.1×102) km  International Space Station (ISS) ↑
ionosphere
(discovered 1902)
↓		 ↑
thermosphere
↓		 ↑
magnetosphere & geospace
↓		 ↑
cislunar space
↓		 ↑
outer space
↓
   
160 (1.6×102) km   
 
400,000 ft (~122 km) NASA Space Shuttle entry interface
~110 (~1.1×102) km  turbopause          
100 (1.0×102) km  Kármán line          
         
      mesopause ↑
magnetosphere
↓		 ↑
cislunar space
↓		 ↑
near space
↓
~85 km     
     
50 mi (~80 km) USA astronaut threshold    
       
      mesosphere
~60 km     
 
~52.5 km    stratopause
 
20 km           
         
63,000 ft (~19.202 km) Armstrong limit   stratosphere      
       
FL600 (18 km)        
       
         
~13 km    tropopause   USA Class A airspace
         
8.848 km      troposphere    
Mount Everest      
18,000 ft (~5.5 km)        
         
0 km           
♁ Earth (RE=6,371 km)
 

Key

~ : Approximated/rounded
† : Distances greater than 2,000,000 km are relative to the Sun
‡ : Via calculation

Notable Catalogs

Below are summaries of notable astronomical catalogs indicating (as applicable) the nomenclature of objects identified by those catalogs and (as available) the year(s) of their publication.

Ancient Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created before major advancements in astronometric technology:

Almagest (second century)
by Claudius Ptolemy (circa 100-170)
Book of Fixed Stars (circa 964)
by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (903-986)

Optical Telescopic Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created approximately in the era after the invention and 1608 Dutch patent of the optical telescope:

M[1-45]: Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d’Étoiles (Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters, 1771 preliminary and 1774)
45 objects cataloged (and some discovered) by Charles Messier (1730-1817); with below additions, often referred to as Messier objects, Messier list, or Messier catalog
M[46-80] (1780)
included in version of above with 35 objects added by Charles Messier
M[81-103] (1781)
included in version of above with 23 objects added by Charles Messier
M[104-109] (1921-1950s)
included in version of above expanded to include 6 in unpublished notes of Charles Messier
M110 (1967)
included in version of above with object added based on notes of Charles Messier
H[1-1000]: Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (CN, 1786)
1000 objects cataloged by William Herschel (1738-1822) with assistance from his sister Caroline Herschel (1750-1848)
H[1001-2000]: (1789)
version of above with 1000 objects added by William Herschel and Caroline Herschel
H[2001-2500]: (1802)
version of above with 500 objects added by William Herschel and Caroline Herschel

Photographic Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created approximately in the era after the invention and 1839 introduction of the word photography:

H[2501-5079]: General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (GC, 1864)
version of above with 2579 objects added by William Herschel’s son John Herschel (1792-1871)
h[1-10,300]: General Catalogue of 10,300 Multiple and Double Stars (after 1871)
complement to GC, by John Herschel, published posthumously
NGC [1-7840]: The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (1888)
compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer (1852-1926)
IC [1-1520]: first Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC/IC I, 1895)
supplement to above, adding 1520 objects
IC [1521-5386]: second Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC/IC II, 1908)
supplement to above, adding 3866 objects
Mel [1-245]: A Catalogue of Star Clusters shown on Franklin-Adams Chart Plates (1915)
a catalog of 245 star clusters by British astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte (1880-1961)
Cr [1-471]: On structural properties of open galactic clusters and their spatial distribution (1931)
a catalog of 471 open clusters by Swedish astronomer Per Collinder (1890-1974)

Electronic Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created approximately in the era after the 1932 first detection of radio waves from space and 1937 first sky survey using radio astronometry:

HD [1-225,300]: Henry Draper Catalogue (1918-1924)
stars and their spectroscopic classifications by Henry Draper (1837-1882)
HDE [225,301-272,150]: Henry Draper Extension (1925-1936)
expanded above, classifying 46,850 more stars
HDEC [272,151-359,083]: Henry Draper Extension Charts (1937-1949)
expanded above, classifying 86,933 more stars
Sh1-[1-142]: first Sharpless catalog (Sh1, 1953)
list of H II regions (emission nebulae) compiled by Stewart Sharpless (1926-2013)
Sh2-[143-312]: second Sharpless catalog (Sh2, 1959)
expanded second and final version of above
The Revised New General Catalogue (RNGC, 1973)
compiled by Jack W. Sulentic and William G. Tifft
Herschel 400 Catalogue (circa 1980)
a subset of Herschel’s original catalog, selected by members of the of the Ancient City Astronomy Club in St. Augustine, Florida
NGC 2000.0 (1988)
compilation of the NGC and IC made by Roger W. Sinnott, using the J2000.0 coordinates
C[1-109]: Caldwell catalogue (1995)
compilation of the sky’s brightest deep-sky objects by Patrick Caldwell-Moore
The Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC, 2009)
compiled by Wolfgang Steinicke
NGC/IC Project (1993-2017)
broad collaboration to identify all NGC and IC objects, correct mistakes, collect images and basic astronomical data