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. Perrotin
- Discovery date
- 10 January 1877
- Pronunciation
- / m ə ˈ r iː ə / mə- REE -ə
- Alternative designations
- A877 AA; 1958 AC
- Minor planet category
- Main belt ( Maria )
- Observation arc
- 116.69 yr (42622 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7161 AU (406.32 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.3923 AU (357.88 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.5542 AU (382.10 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.08 yr (1491.0 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 88.062 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 29.184 / day
- Inclination
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 171 Ophelia
- Follows
- Q142411
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +33.136
- Orbital period
- +1491.328232041943
- Image
- Asteroid-maria.jpg
Show 4 more facts
Article
170 Maria is a Main belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Henri Joseph Perrotin on January 10, 1877. Its orbit was computed by Antonio Abetti, and the asteroid was named after his sister, Maria. This is the namesake of the Maria asteroid family; one of the first asteroid families to be identified by Japanese astronomer Kiyotsugu Hirayama in 1918. This family may be the parent body of the large near-Earth objects 433 Eros and 1036 Ganymed.
This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.55 AU with a low eccentricity of 0.063 and an orbital period of 4.08 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 14.4° to the plane of the ecliptic. The diameter of this body has been measured as 44.3 km.