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
- E. Delporte
- Discovery site
- Uccle Obs.
- Discovery date
- 24 September 1935
- Pronunciation
- / æ f r oʊ ˈ d aɪ t iː /
- Named after
- Aphrodite , (Greek goddess)
- Alternative designations
- 1935 SS · A914 TC
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ), Eos
- Adjectives
- Aphrodisian / æ f r oʊ ˈ d ɪ z i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 83.08 yr (30,344 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2896 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.7485 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.0190 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
Article
1388 Aphrodite (prov. designation: 1935 SS) is an asteroid of the Eos family from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1935, by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle. The likely elongated K-type asteroid has a rotation period of 11.9 hours. It was named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite from Greek mythology.
Orbit and classification