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
- G. Neujmin
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 6 November 1931
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ θ eɪ . ɪ s /
- Named after
- Thaïs (ancient Greek hetaira )
- Alternative designations
- 1931 VX · 1957 LQ, 1964 JH · 1965 WA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( inner ) background
- Observation arc
- 84.57 yr (30,888 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.0192 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.8455 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.4323 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.79 yr (1,386 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Thaïs
- Followed by
- 1237 Geneviève
- Follows
- Q137212
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +22.34
- Orbital period
- +1384.268533184886
- Image
- 001236-asteroid shape model (1236) Thaïs.png
Show 4 more facts
Article
1236 Thaïs /ˈθeɪ.ɪs/ (prov. designation: 1931 VX) is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. The rare T-type asteroid has a notably long rotation period of 72 hours and measures approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles). It was discovered on 6 November 1931, by Soviet astronomer Grigory Neujmin at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula, and named after the ancient Greek prostitute Thaïs.
Orbit and classification