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
- 17 October 1930
- Pronunciation
- / æ ŋ ˈ k aɪ s iː z /
- Named after
- Anchises (Greek mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1930 UB
- Minor planet category
- Jupiter trojan , Trojan · background
- Adjectives
- Anchisian
- Observation arc
- 87.60 yr (31,997 d)
- Aphelion
- 6.0232 AU
- Perihelion
- 4.5678 AU
- Semi major axis
- 5.2955 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 12.19 yr (4,451 d)
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Anchises
- Followed by
- Q136762
- Follows
- 1172 Äneas
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +99.549
- Orbital period
- +4418.852572351573
- Image
- 001173-asteroid shape model (1173) Anchises.png
Show 4 more facts
Article
1173 Anchises /æŋˈkaɪsiːz/ is an unusually elongated Jupiter Trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately 124 kilometers (77 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 17 October 1930, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany, and was the 9th such body to be discovered. The primitive P-type asteroid belongs to the largest Jupiter trojans, has an unusually smooth surface texture, the lowest spectral slope of all members of the Trojan camp, and a rotation period of 11.6 hours. It was named after Anchises from Greek mythology.
Orbit and classification