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
- Max Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg
- Discovery date
- 20 March 1904
- Pronunciation
- / r ɛ ˈ z aɪ ə / , German: [ ˈʁeːtsiaː ]
- Alternative designations
- 1904 NS
- Observation arc
- 112.08 yr (40937 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.4643 AU (518.25 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 3.3395 AU (499.58 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.4019 AU (508.92 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 6.27 yr (2291.8 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 136.691 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 9 25.488 / day
- Inclination
- 12.678°
Article
528 Rezia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered by Max Wolf on March 20, 1904. It is named for a character in the 1826 opera Oberon by Carl Maria von Weber. Among the 248 discoveries by Wolf, he also discovered 527 Euryanthe and 529 Preziosa on the same day.
The mostly likely source for the name of the asteroid is the character Rezia in Carl Maria von Weber's opera Oberon, given that around 1904 the astronomer was frequently using the names of female opera characters for the asteroids he discovered.