1226 Golia

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

H. van Gent

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs. , (Leiden Southern Station)

Discovery date

22 April 1930

Named after

Jacobus Golius , (Dutch mathematician)

Alternative designations

1930 HL · 1957 WN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

87.20 yr (31,851 days)

Aphelion

2.8736 AU

Perihelion

2.2927 AU

Semi major axis

2.5832 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.15 yr (1,516 days)

Mean anomaly

57.385 °

Mean motion

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Jacobus Golius

Followed by

Q137148

Follows

Q137137

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+11.679

Orbital period

+1516.746734302568

Image

001226-asteroid shape model (1226) Golia.png