156 Xanthippe

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Austrian Naval Obs.

Discovery date

22 November 1875

Pronunciation

/ z æ n ˈ θ ɪ p iː /

Named after

Xanthippe , (wife of Socrates )

Alternative designations

A875 WA; 1901 SA;, 1902 VA; 1936 FG 1 ;, 1942 RP; 1949 BN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

116.46 yr (42,537 d)

Aphelion

3.3475 AU

Perihelion

2.1069 AU

Semi major axis

2.7272 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.50 yr (1,645 d)

Mean anomaly

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Xanthippe

Followed by

157 Dejanira

Follows

155 Scylla

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+143.346

Orbital period

+1651.410745129506