Based on recessional velocity of 3715 km/sec, about 165 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 2.2 by 1.9 arcmin, about 100 thousand light years in diameter.

Based on a recessional velocity of 1080 km/sec, NGC 1553 is about 50 million light years away, in essential agreement with (widely varying) redshift-independent distance estimates of 25 to 75 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 5.9 by 3.9 arcmin, it is about 95 thousand light years across. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1566 group. It is part of a possibly gravitationally bound pair with NGC 1549, which is a little over 11 arcminutes away in the sky, and (if at a common distance of 55 million light years) may be separated from NGC 1553 by as little as 175 thousand light years. GALEX and HST images of NGC 1553 show an active core and clouds of gas and dust, presumably related to a gravitational interaction with NGC 1549 (and if so, the strongest evidence that they are a pair).

The first IC adds "Hind's variable nebula, 2 degrees preceding and 40 arcsec south of the variable star T Tauri. Barnard in 1890 found an extremely faint nebula in position 185 degrees, 3/4 arcmin distant from T, which agrees well with Hind's and d'Arrest's observations. Barnard and Burnham also saw T Tauri within a very small condensed nebula (often seen by Tempel). Bigourdan's #144 (a 13th-magnitude nebulous star?) in RA 04 13 56, NPD 70 52, was apparently not seen at the Lick Observatory." The second IC adds "Hind's variable nebula. Barnard in February and March 1895 found (with the 36-inch refractor) that T Tauri was not, as in 1890, the nucleus of a pretty bright, small nebula; the star was perfectly stellar but involved in a very faint, diffuse nebulous glow; Struve's nebula was not seen, though there was a slight haziness there (MN, lv, pp 442-452, where the whole history of the object is given, to which may be added a reference to a diagram by Otto Struve in 1862, MN xxii, p 242). In September 1895, on three nights, no trace of Hind's nebula was seen with the 36-inch (ibid, lvi, p 66). Keeler on two photos taken in December 1899 found three very faint, irregular patches, connected by still fainter nebulosity, southwest and west of T Tauri, but clear of the star; no trace of Struve's nebula (ibid, lx p425). Not visible to Burnham around 1907.0 (AN 4209)." As seen from the extensive IC notes, NGC 1554 and 1555 have been associated with each other since Dreyer's time; but whether they are really the same is another matter, as it appears that there have been numerous observations of NGC 1555, but not one of NGC 1554 since Struve and d'Arrest's observations of 1868. Changes in the distribution of dusty clouds surrounding T Tauri apparently cause irregular variations in the light available to illuminate the surrounding nebulae; hence "Hind's Variable Nebula" is an apt description for 1555, but since no sign of 1554 has been noted since 1868, its title of "Struve's Lost Nebula" seems equally accurate.