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
- 14 October 1884
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ s iː t ə /
- Named after
- Sita
- Alternative designations
- A884 TA, 1900 UA, 1957 KT, 1976 HY, 1979 FL 3
- Minor planet category
Article
244 Sita is a background asteroid from the inner region of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 14 October 1884 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa in the Vienna Observatory and was named after wife of Rama, Sita.
This minor planet is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.17 AU with an eccentricity of 0.137 and an orbital period of 3.21 yr. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 2.84° to the plane of the ecliptic. It is spinning slowly, completing a rotation about its axis once every 129.056 ± 0.021 h (5.377 ± 0.001 d).