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
Key facts
- Discovered by
- S. Belyavskyj
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 26 January 1925
- Named after
- Sergey Belyavsky , (discoverer himself)
- Alternative designations
- 1925 BE · 1949 KC 1 , A912 VN · A914 BB, A917 QB · A923 TA
Article
1074 Beljawskya, provisional designation 1925 BE, is a Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 48 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 26 January 1925, by Soviet–Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. It was named in honor of its discoverer.