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
- A. Charlois
- Discovery site
- Nice Obs.
- Discovery date
- 8 October 1891
- Pronunciation
- / l iː ˈ oʊ n ə /
- Named after
- unknown Leona
- Alternative designations
- A920 HE
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer )
- Observation arc
- 125.32 yr (45,774 days)
- Aphelion
- 4.1451 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6655 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.4053 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 6.28 yr (2,295 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 21.414 °
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q151009
- Follows
- 318 Magdalena
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +49.943
- Mass
- +332
- Orbital period
- +2299.825444523989
Show 3 more facts
Article
319 Leona (provisional designation A920 HE) is a dark, carbonaceous asteroid in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 8 October 1891, by French astronomer Auguste Charlois at Nice Observatory in France. On 12 December 2023, Leona passed in front of the bright star Betelgeuse and occulted it, which caused the star to briefly dim as seen from Central America, Europe, and east Asia. This occultation was expected to reveal the shape of Leona and the surface of Betelgeuse in high detail.
Classification and orbit