249 Ilse

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

16 August 1885

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈɪlzə ]

Named after

Ilse

Alternative designations

A885 QA, 1973 PB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

130.59 yr (47699 d)

Aphelion

2.89450 AU (433.011 Gm )

Perihelion

1.85992 AU (278.240 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.37721 AU (355.626 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.67 yr (1338.8 d )

Average orbital speed

19.31 km/s

Mean anomaly

223.964 °

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

250 Bettina

Follows

Q149175

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+34.83

Orbital period

+1339.688912942064

Image

000249-asteroid shape model (249) Ilse.png