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
- C. Jackson
- Discovery site
- Johannesburg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 24 March 1934
- Pronunciation
- / n ɪ ˈ r aɪ n ɑː /
- Named after
- Nerine , ( flowering plant )
- Alternative designations
- 1934 FG · 1955 FA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( inner ) , Phocaea
- Observation arc
- 84.16 yr (30,740 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7778 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.8368 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.3073 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.50 yr (1,280 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 346.11 °
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Nerine
- Followed by
- Q137971
- Follows
- 1317 Silvretta
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +13.272
- Orbital period
- +1281.331856504708
Show 3 more facts
- P65
Article
1318 Nerina (/nɪˈraɪnɑː/), provisional designation 1934 FG, is a Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 March 1934, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The possibly metallic X-type asteroid has a notably short rotation period of 2.5 hours. It was named for the flowering plant Nerine, also known as "Guernsey lily" or "Jersey lily".
Orbit and classification