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 , 1878
- Discovery date
- 28 February 1878
- Pronunciation
- / d iː oʊ ˈ p iː ə /
- Named after
- Deiopea
- Alternative designations
- A878 DA; 1903 QB;, 1959 LL
- Minor planet category
Article
184 Dejopeja is a large M-type Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on February 28, 1878, and was named after Deiopea, a Roman nymph.
This is an X-type asteroid with a diameter of 66 km and a geometric albedo of 0.190. Based upon Photometric observations taken during 2000, it has a synodic rotation period of 6.441 ± 0.001 h. The light curve is tri-modal, most likely due to an angular shape, with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.19 ± 0.01 in magnitude.