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
- 25 August 1897
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ h ɪ p oʊ /
- Named after
- Hippo Regius (Ἱππών Hippōn )
- Alternative designations
- 1897 DH
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Hipponian / h ɪ ˈ p oʊ n i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 112.19 yr (40977 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.1893 AU (477.11 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.5893 AU (387.35 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.8893 AU (432.23 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.91 yr (1793.8 d )
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Hippo Regius
- Followed by
- 427 Galene
- Follows
- 425 Cornelia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +137.562
- Orbital period
- +1791.518660718657
- Image
- Orbit of 426 Hippo.gif
Show 4 more facts
Article
426 Hippo is a rather large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on August 25, 1897, in Nice. In the 22nd century, it will come closer than 6,000,000 km (0.04 AU) to the larger asteroids 65 Cybele and 511 Davida.
Orbital diagram of Hippo