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
- Alphonse Borrelly
- Discovery date
- 31 March 1891
- Pronunciation
- / p ə ˈ l ɪ k s oʊ /
- Named after
- Πολυξώ Polyxō
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Polyxoian / p ɒ l ɪ k ˈ s oʊ i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 124.63 yr (45,521 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.860 AU (427.8 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.640 AU (394.9 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.750 AU (411.4 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.56 yr (1,665.5 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 70.4189°
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 58.158 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q150834
- Follows
- Q150797
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +128.578
- Orbital period
- +1664.518329170319
Show 4 more facts
- P720
Article
308 Polyxo is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly on 31 March 1891, in Marseille. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.75 AU with a low orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.04 and a period of 4.56 yr. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 4.36° to the plane of the ecliptic.
308 Polyxo is classified as a rare T-type asteroid, with a spectrum that bears some similarity to the Tagish Lake meteorite. A spectral feature at a wavelength of 3.0 μm suggests aqueous alteration of some surface materials. Photometric measurements reported in 1983 give a rotation period of 12.03 hours and a brightness variation of 0.20 in magnitude. The adaptive optics instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory shows an oblate object with a diameter of 130 km. The size ratio between the major and minor axes is 1.26 ± 0.11. Light curves for this object suggests it has a very irregular shape.