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
- 12 February 1926
- Pronunciation
- / s aɪ ˈ b ɪər i ə /
- Named after
- Siberia , (Region in North Asia )
- Alternative designations
Article
1094 Siberia (prov. designation: 1926 CB) is an Eunomian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 12 February 1926, by Soviet astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The X-type asteroid (Xk) has a rotation period of 21.2 hours and measures approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) in diameter. It was named after the vast region of Siberia in North Asia.
Orbit and classification