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
- George Mary Searle
- Discovery site
- Albany, New York
- Discovery date
- September 10, 1858
- Pronunciation
- / p æ n ˈ d ɔːr ə /
- Named after
- Pandora
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Pandorian / p æ n ˈ d ɔːr i ə n /
- Symbol
- (astrological)
- Aphelion
- 3.158 AU (472.4 Gm)
- Perihelion
- 2.358 AU (352.8 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.758 AU (412.6 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.58 yr (1,673 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 114.416°
Article
55 Pandora is a fairly large and relatively bright asteroid in the asteroid belt. Pandora was discovered by American astronomer and Catholic priest George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858, from the Dudley Observatory near Albany, New York. It was his only asteroid discovery.
It is named after Pandora, the first woman in Greek mythology, who unwisely opened a box that released evil into the world. The name was apparently chosen by Blandina Dudley, widow of the founder of the Dudley Observatory, who had been involved in an acrimonious dispute with the director of the observatory, astronomer B. A. Gould. Gould felt that the name had an "apt significance". The asteroid shares its name with Pandora, a moon of Saturn.