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
- Max Wolf
- Discovery date
- 7 September 1896
- Pronunciation
- / ɒ ˈ r iː l i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1896 CW
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 117.23 yr (42819 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2498 AU (486.16 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.94613 AU (291.137 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.59798 AU (388.652 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.19 yr (1529.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 297.81 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 7.332 / day
- Inclination
- 3.9247°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q152978
- Follows
- Q152904
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +148.701
- Orbital period
- +1527.503584663418
Show 5 more facts
Article
419 Aurelia is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf on September 7, 1896, in Heidelberg. It is classified as an F-type asteroid.
Photometric observations of this asteroid made during 2008 at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave a "somewhat irregular" light curve with a period of 16.784 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.07 ± 0.01 in magnitude. When allowing for varying aspect angles and changes in mean motion, this result is consistent with past studies.