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
- 21 March 1895
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ k l oʊ i / KLOH -ee
- Named after
- Χλόη Khloē
- Alternative designations
- 1895 BW
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Chloëan ( / k l oʊ ˈ iː ə n / kloh- EE -ən )
- Observation arc
- 120.77 yr (44,113 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.84302 AU (425.310 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.27556 AU (340.419 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.55929 AU (382.864 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.09 yr (1,495.5 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 403 Cyane
- Follows
- Q152488
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +55.421
- Orbital period
- +1495.185236876921
- Image
- 000402-asteroid shape model (402) Chloë.png
Show 4 more facts
Article
402 Chloë (prov. designation: A895 FB or 1895 BW) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 21 March 1895 from Nice. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.56 AU with a period of 4.09 years and an eccentricity of 0.11. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 11.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.
This asteroid spans a girth of approximately 54 km. It is classified as a K-type asteroid and is a Barbarian, which means it belongs to a class of asteroids of which 234 Barbara is the prototype. Analysis of the asteroid light curve, based on photometric data collected during 2009, show a rotation period of 10.664±0.001 h with a brightness variation of 0.30±0.01 in magnitude.