Based on recessional velocity of 11725 km/sec, about 520 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.1 by 0.6 arcmin, about 165 thousand light years in diameter.

A member of the Local Group. The recessional velocity is -235 km/sec, and completely useless for estimating the distance -- a not unusual situation for nearby galaxies, for which peculiar (non-Hubble expansion) velocities are often larger than the Hubble expansion velocity. Redshift-independent distance estimates range from 2.1 to 2.6 million light years, yielding a statistically averaged distance of 2.3 to 2.45 million light years. Given that and apparent size of 16.2 by 14.5 arcmin, it is about 11 thousand light years in diameter, hence its designation as a dwarf galaxy. Most of the stars in IC 1613 are about 7 billion years old (although there are a considerable number of younger, population I stars, as shown in the GALEX image at bottom). Among them are at least five Population II Cepheid variables, which have helped calibrate the period-luminosity relation for Cepheids. Other than the Magellanic Clouds, IC 1613 is the only Local Group irregular galaxy in which (the much fainter) RR Lyrae variables have also been detected.

Below, an ultraviolet image of the 15 arcmin region centered on the galaxy. Low-surface brightness galaxies such as IC 1613 are difficult to image in visible light (the CFHT image required considerable observing time), but (providing they contain at least some hot young stars) are more easily observed in the ultraviolet, where the general background is less noticeable. (Image credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSC, GALEX, Planetary Photojournal)