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
- Guillaume Bigourdan
- Discovery date
- 24 March 1894
- Named after
- Alma River
- Alternative designations
- 1894 BC; 1930 QW;, 1950 BV; 1950 CH;, 1953 YB; 1963 DF
- Minor planet category
- Main belt ( Eunomia family )
- Observation arc
- 122.02 yr (44568 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.00211 AU (449.109 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.29906 AU (343.934 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.65059 AU (396.523 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.32 yr (1576.2 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 136.953 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 42.229 / day
- Inclination
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Alma
- Followed by
- 391 Ingeborg
- Follows
- 389 Industria
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +25.688
- Orbital period
- +1576.915594976205
- Image
- 390Alma (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 4 more facts
Article
390 Alma is an asteroid from the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. It was Guillaume Bigourdan's only asteroid discovery. He discovered it on 24 March 1894 in Paris.
References