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
- Johann Palisa
- Discovery date
- 15 October 1891
- Pronunciation
- / f l ɒr ə n ˈ t aɪ n ə /
- Minor planet category
- Main belt ( Koronis )
- Observation arc
- 118.15 yr (43153 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.01879 AU (451.605 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7543 AU (412.04 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.88657 AU (431.825 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.90 yr (1,791.3 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 120.99 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 3.492 / day
- Inclination
- 2.5876°
- Longitude of ascending node
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q151056
- Follows
- Q151009
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +27.974
- Orbital period
- +1789.33719373623
- Image
- 321Florentina (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 5 more facts
Article
321 Florentina is an S-type (stony) main belt asteroid with a diameter of 28 km. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 15 October 1891 in Vienna. He named the asteroid for his daughter, Florentine. Between 1874 and 1923, Palisa discovered a total of 122 asteroids.
This asteroid is a dynamic member of the Koronis family. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.887 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.046 and an orbital period of 4.90 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 2.59° to the plane of the ecliptic. Photometric data collected during the asteroid opposition of 2011 was used to construct a light curve that displayed a rotation period of 2.870±0.001 h. This is consistent with previous rotation estimates.