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
- K. Reinmuth
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 26 February 1928
- Pronunciation
- / s p aɪ ˈ r iː ə /
- Named after
- Spiraea , (genus of shrubs )
- Alternative designations
- 1928 DT · 1934 CN 1 , 1938 UR · 1964 XH
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Cybele · background
- Observation arc
- 89.27 yr (32,606 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.6484 AU
- Perihelion
- 3.2077 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.4281 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 6.35 yr (2,318 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Spiraea
- Followed by
- Q135824
- Follows
- 1090 Sumida
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +35.178
- Orbital period
- +2308.36963707537
Show 3 more facts
Article
1091 Spiraea, provisional designation 1928 DT, is a carbonaceous Cybele asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 26 February 1928, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after Spiraea, a genus of plants.
Orbit and classification