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
- 19 August 1933
- Named after
- Kutaisi (city in Georgia )
- Alternative designations
- 1933 QR · 1928 QD, 1948 TJ 2 · 1953 TO 2 , A893 GA · A919 UC
Article
1289 Kutaïssi (prov. designation: 1933 QR) is a stony Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt. Discovered by Grigory Neujmin at Simeiz Observatory in 1933, it was later named after the Georgian city of Kutaisi. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.6 hours and measures approximately 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter.
Discovery