1103 Sequoia

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

W. Baade

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

9 November 1928

Pronunciation

/ s ɪ ˈ k w ɔɪ . ə /

Named after

Sequoia National Park , (national park, California)

Alternative designations

1928 VB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner , Hungaria

Observation arc

88.91 yr (32,473 days)

Aphelion

2.1169 AU

Perihelion

1.7505 AU

Semi major axis

1.9337 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.69 yr (982 days)

Mean anomaly

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Sequoia National Park

Followed by

Q135963

Follows

Q135947

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

+6.692

Orbital period

+982.2592999683555

Image

001103-asteroid shape model (1103) Sequoia.png