222 Lucia

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

9 February 1882

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l uː ʃ i ə / , German: [ ˈluːtsiɐ ]

Alternative designations

A882 CA, 1899 EC, 1919 AB

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Themis )

Observation arc

117.10 yr (42769 d)

Aphelion

3.5529 AU (531.51 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7296 AU (408.34 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1412 AU (469.92 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.57 yr (2033.5 d )

Average orbital speed

16.82 km/s

Mean anomaly

349.267 °

Mean motion

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

223 Rosa

Follows

221 Eos

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+55.35

Orbital period

+2042.32406127302

Image

222Lucia (Lightcurve Inversion).png