Picture of the Day · NASA
NGC 3660 and Burçin's Galaxy
2026-05-26
The upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower galaxy is more unusual. The galaxy up top is NGC 3660, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy in that it has several bright blue spiral arms and a central bar of stars, dust, and gas. Captured by chance in the featured deep and colorful image, surprisingly, is SN 2026cff, a supernova found just to the right of the central bar. Farther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, known informally as Burçin’s galaxy, but formally cataloged as LEDA 1000714. The center of this galaxy appears to be an old elliptical galaxy, but it is strangely surrounded by not one but two rings of stars. What created Burçin's galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, but it likely involves the accretion of one or more smaller galaxies.
via NASA APOD
Small body data
10199 Chariklo (1997 CU26)
- Orbit class
- Centaur
- Diameter
- 302 km
- Albedo
- 0.045
- Rotation period
- 7.004 h
- Absolute magnitude
- 6.550 H
- Earth MOID
- 12.100 AU
via NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Spacewatch
- Discovery site
- Kitt Peak Obs.
- Discovery date
- 15 February 1997
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ k ær ə k l oʊ /
- Named after
- Χαρικλώ Khariklō , (Ancient Greek nymph)
- Alternative designations
- 1997 CU 26
- Minor planet category
- centaur · distant
- Adjectives
- Charikloan, Charikloian / k ær ə ˈ k l oʊ ( i ) ə n /
- Observation arc
- 36+ yr
- Earliest precovery date
- 5 November 1988
- Aphelion
- 18.420 AU
- Perihelion
- 13.077 AU
- Semi major axis
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Chariclo
- Followed by
- 10200 Quadri
- Follows
- 10198 Pinelli
- Parent body
- Sun
- Child body
- rings of Chariklo
- Minor-planet group
- centaur
- Diameter
- +302.0
- Radius
- +143
- Orbital period
- +22808.8566569889
- Image
- 10199 Chariklo.jpg
Article
10199 Chariklo /ˈkærəkloʊ/ is a ringed asteroid and centaur in the outer Solar System. It is the largest known centaur, with a diameter of about 250 km (160 mi). It orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus with an orbital period of 62.5 years. It was discovered on 15 February 1997 by the University of Arizona's Spacewatch project at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Chariklo has a dark, reddish surface composed of water ice, silicate minerals, amorphous carbon, and various complex organic compounds (also known as tholins).
Chariklo's ring system consists of two narrow rings of icy particles in orbit around the object. The rings of Chariklo were discovered in 2013, when astronomers observed Chariklo occulting or passing in front of a star. Chariklo was the first minor planet discovered to have rings, and as of 2025, it is one of the four minor planets known to have rings (the three others being 2060 Chiron, Haumea, and Quaoar). It is unknown what keeps Chariklo's rings stable, as it has been predicted that they should decay within a few million years. Astronomers have hypothesized that Chariklo's rings might be maintained by the gravitational influence of yet-undiscovered shepherd moons orbiting Chariklo. The origin of Chariklo's rings is uncertain, with various possible explanations including ejection of surface material via outgassing or tidal disruption of a moon around Chariklo.