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
- D. Stewart
- Discovery date
- 14 August 1901
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɒ k l oʊ /
- Named after
- Mama Uqllu , legendary first queen of the Kingdom of Cuzco
- Alternative designations
- 1901 HN; 1959 JS;, 1979 DD
- Minor planet category
- Mars-crosser
- Observation arc
- 97.47 yr (35601 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.5821 AU (535.87 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.60661 AU (240.345 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.59436 AU (388.111 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.18 yr (1526.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 174.037 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Mama Ocllo
- Followed by
- 476 Hedwig
- Follows
- 474 Prudentia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- Mars-crossing asteroid
- Diameter
- +17.83
- Mass
- +31
- Orbital period
- +1525.462154072521
Show 3 more facts
Article
475 Ocllo is a large Mars-crossing asteroid. It was discovered by American astronomer DeLisle Stewart on August 14, 1901, and was assigned a provisional name of 1901 HN.
Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico during 2010 gave a light curve with a period of 7.3151 ± 0.0002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.66 ± 0.04 in magnitude.