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
- 27 August 1897
- Pronunciation
- / ɡ ə ˈ l iː n iː /
- Alternative designations
- 1897 DJ
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Galenean / ɡ æ l ɪ ˈ n iː ə n /
- Observation arc
- 110.93 yr (40,519 d) 110.93 yr (40519 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.32976 AU (498.125 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.61263 AU (390.844 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.97119 AU (444.484 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.12 yr (1,870.7 d) 5.12 yr (1870.7 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 90.0900 °
- Mean motion
Article
427 Galene is a typical main belt asteroid. It was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 27 August 1897 from Nice, and was named after Galene, one of the Nereids of Greek mythology (Hesiod, Theogony 240). This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.97 AU with a period of 5.12 yr and an eccentricity of 0.12. A computer search suggests it is the most likely parent body of the impactor that generated the temporary cometary activity of 7968 Elst–Pizarro in 1996.
Analysis of the light curve generated from photometry data collected during 2009 show a rotation period of 3.705±0.005 h with a brightness variation of 0.6 in magnitude. Based upon an albedo of 0.26±0.03, this asteroid spans a diameter of 33.8±2.0 km.