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
- S. Arend
- Discovery site
- Uccle Obs.
- Discovery date
- 1 September 1953
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ b ɔːr i ə s /
- Named after
- Boreas ( Greek mythology )
- Alternative designations
- 1953 RA
- Minor planet category
- NEO · Amor
- Observation arc
- 63.73 yr (23,279 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.2944 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.2506 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.2725 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.43 yr (1,251 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 252.13 °
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- near-Earth object
- Named after
- Boreas
- Followed by
- 1917 Cuyo
- Follows
- 1915 Quetzálcoatl
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +3.5
- Orbital period
- +1251.416797529886
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
1916 Boreas, provisional designation 1953 RA, is an eccentric, stony asteroid and near-Earth object of the Amor group, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. After its discovery in 1953, it became a lost asteroid until 1974. It was named after Boreas from Greek mythology.
Discovery