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
- 4 December 1899
- Pronunciation
- / p æ t i ˈ ɛ n ʃ ə /
- Named after
- patience
- Alternative designations
- 1899 EY
- Minor planet category
Article
451 Patientia is approximately the 15th-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt with a diameter of 250 km. It was discovered by French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 4 December 1899, and assigned a provisional designation 1899 EY.
It regularly reaches 11th magnitude in brightness, as on 11 January 2013, and 12 December 2017, when in favorable oppositions will be at magnitudes 10.7 and 10.4 respectively, very bright for a later-discovered minor planet.