312 Pierretta

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery site

Nice Observatory

Discovery date

28 August 1891

Pronunciation

/ p i ə ˈ r ɛ t ə /

Alternative designations

A891 QA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

128.66 yr (46994 d)

Aphelion

3.227 AU (482.8 Gm )

Perihelion

2.338 AU (349.8 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.782 AU (416.2 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.64 yr (1695.1 d )

Mean anomaly

339.6932 °

Mean motion

0° 12 44.554 / day

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

313 Chaldaea

Follows

311 Claudia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+46.191

Orbital period

+1694.997180767248

Image

312Pierretta (Lightcurve Inversion).png