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. C. Watson
- Discovery date
- 1 October 1877
- Pronunciation
- / æ n ˈ d r ɒ m ə k iː /
- Named after
- Andromache
- Alternative designations
- A877 TA; 1893 KA;, 1895 XB; 1946 MB;, 1946 OD
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 138.18 yr (50472 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.9264 AU (587.38 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.4442 AU (365.65 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.1853 AU (476.51 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.69 yr (2076.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 35.697 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Andromache
- Followed by
- 176 Iduna
- Follows
- 174 Phaedra
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +94.532
- Orbital period
- +2077.891145205084
Show 5 more facts
- P65
Article
175 Andromache is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Canadian-American astronomer J. C. Watson on October 1, 1877. It was named after Andromache, wife of Hector during the Trojan War. Watson's telegram to Europe announcing the discovery became lost, and so notification did not arrive until several weeks later. As a result, another minor planet, later designated 176 Iduna, was initially assigned the number 175.
The initial orbital elements for 175 Andromache proved unreliable, and it was only in 1893 that an accurate ephemeris was produced. Because the orbital period is fairly close to being double that of the giant planet Jupiter, 175 Andromache initially became of interest in the study of gravitational perturbations. This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 3.19 AU with an eccentricity of 0.23 and an orbital period of 5.69 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 3.2° to the plane of the ecliptic.