Based on a recessional velocity of 4790 km/sec, IC 2550 is about 210 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.85 by 0.75 arcmin, it is about 50 thousand light years across.

IC 2574 is a very low surface brightness galaxy, barely discernible on normally exposed images of the area, despite its large size (the visible-light image below is considerably enhanced). Its recessional velocity is only 55 km/sec, which is much smaller than peculiar (non-Hubble expansion) velocities, and cannot be used to estimate its distance. Redshift-independent distance estimates range from 9 to 17 million light years, suggesting that it may be a member of the nearby M81 group of galaxies. Using the average of its distance estimates (about 13 million light years), its apparent size of 13.2 by 5.4 arcmin suggests that it is about 50 thousand light years across. Despite its large apparent and physical size, its scattered and diffuse appearance leads to its classification as a "dwarf" galaxy. A years-long VLA study of radio radiation emitted by cold hydrogen gas in IC 2574 (and other galaxies) has enabled the creation of remarkably detailed images, and similarly detailed studies of the motions of gas and stars; those show that most of the mass is not in the form of visible stars and clouds of gas, but in the "dark matter" that pervades all known galaxies and clusters of galaxies.

Below, a false-color image of the galaxy uses blue to show radio radiation from cold atomic hydrogen gas, orange to show infrared radiation from old lower-Main Sequence stars, and purple to show X-radiation from hot, bright young stars (Image Credits: AUI, NSF, Spitzer, GALEX, Walter et al, NRAO/VLA)