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 date
- 1 September 1891
- Pronunciation
- / r oʊ ˈ z eɪ l i ə , - ɑː l i ə /
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 124.62 yr (45517 d)
- Aphelion
Article
314 Rosalia is a large Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 1 September 1891 in Nice.
Photometric observations of this asteroid collected during 2006 show a rotation period of 20.43 ± 0.02 hours with a brightness variation of 0.21 ± 0.02 magnitude.