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
- Raymond Smith Dugan
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Observatory
- Discovery date
- 20 April 1903
- Pronunciation
- / p r ɪ n ˈ s t oʊ n i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1903 LQ
- Observation arc
Article
508 Princetonia is a large asteroid, a type of minor planet, orbiting in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Raymond Smith Dugan at Heidelberg, Germany in 1903 and named "Princetonia" for Princeton University in New Jersey in the United States.
Dugan found it during his time at Königstuhl Observatory with Max Wolf in Heidelberg, Germany. At the time he was working on his PhD from Heidelberg University. The asteroid is located in the outer areas of the main asteroid belt and is about 140 km (87 mi) in diameter according to data from IRAS, an infrared space observatory in the 1980s.