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
- C. H. F. Peters
- Discovery date
- 11 September 1879
- Pronunciation
- / k r aɪ ˈ s iː ɪ s /
- Named after
- Chryseis
- Alternative designations
- A879 RA, A901 TA, 1935 BL
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 136.57 yr (49881 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3859 AU (506.52 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7567 AU (412.40 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.0713 AU (459.46 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.38 yr (1966.0 d )
- Average orbital speed
- 16.99 km/s
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Chryseis
- Followed by
- 203 Pompeja
- Follows
- 201 Penelope
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +86.15
- Orbital period
- +1962.431726619817
Show 4 more facts
Article
202 Chryseïs is a large, lightly coloured main belt asteroid that is probably composed of silicate rocks. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on September 11, 1879, in Clinton, New York, and was named after the mythical Trojan woman Chryseis. 202 Chryseïs is orbiting the Sun with a semimajor axis of 3.07 AU and an eccentricity of 0.102, which brings it as close to the Sun as 2.76 AU and as far away as 3.39 AU during the course of its 5.38 year orbital period. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 8.85° relative to the plane of the ecliptic.
The rotation period for this asteroid is close to a day long, so the construction of a complete light curve requires photometric observations from multiple locations at widely spaced latitudes. This task was completed in January and February, 2011, yielding a synodic rotation period of 23.670 ± 0.001 h, with a brightness variation of 0.20 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This is a stony, S-type asteroid. Based on infrared observations, it has a diameter of 86.15±2.4 km.