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
- P. M. Henry , 1878
- Discovery date
- 6 April 1878
- Pronunciation
- / s ɛ ˈ l uː t ə /
- Alternative designations
- A878 GA; 1954 FD
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 132.36 yr (48343 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7152 AU (406.19 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.0084 AU (300.45 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.3618 AU (353.32 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.63 yr (1325.8 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 275.22 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 16 17.544 / day
- Inclination
- 13.185°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 187 Lamberta
- Follows
- Q144715
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +49.99
- Mass
- +131000000000000000
- Orbital period
- +1326.88864155161
Show 4 more facts
Article
186 Celuta is a main belt asteroid. It was discovered by the French astronomers Paul Henry and Prosper Henry on April 6, 1878. This was the last discovery credited to the Prosper brothers. The asteroid is named after Céluta, a female character in two works of fiction by François-René de Chateaubriand, Atala (1801) and René (1802). The Henry brothers had already named another of their discoveries, 152 Atala, after the heroine of Atala. Both Atala and Céluta are American Indian fictional characters.
This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.36 km with an eccentricity of 0.15 and an orbital period of 3.63 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 13.2° relative to the plane of the ecliptic. 186 Celuta has a diameter of 50 km and it is classified as a stony S-type asteroid.