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
- R. Luther
- Discovery site
- Bilk Obs.
- Discovery date
- 12 March 1871
- Pronunciation
- / æ m əl ˈ θ iː ə /
- Named after
- Amalthea
- Alternative designations
- A871 EA; 1931 TN 3 ;, 1951 CY
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · Flora
- Observation arc
- 144.90 yr (52926 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.5819 AU (386.25 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.17010 AU (324.642 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.37598 AU (355.442 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.66 yr (1337.7 d )
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Amalthea
- Followed by
- 114 Kassandra
- Follows
- 112 Iphigenia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +50.137
- Orbital period
- +1338.133701198029
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
113 Amalthea (/æməlˈθiːə/) is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 12 March 1871, by German astronomer Robert Luther at the Bilk Observatory in Düsseldorf, Germany. The elongated S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 9.95 hours. It was named after Amalthea from Greek mythology. A purported satellite of Amalthea was announced in July 2017, but was later found to be a software error in July 2021.
Description