566 Stereoskopia
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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
- Paul Götz
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg
- Discovery date
- 28 May 1905
- Pronunciation
- / ˌ s t ɛr i oʊ ˈ s k oʊ p i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1905 QO
- Observation arc
- 1,687.12 d (40,491 h)
- Aphelion
- 3.7804 AU (565.54 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.9908 AU (447.42 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.3856 AU (506.48 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 6.23 yr (2,275.4 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 177.298 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 9 29.592 / day
- Inclination
- 4.8864°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 567 Eleutheria
- Follows
- Q155591
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +167.381
- Orbital period
- +2264.842862275396
Show 4 more facts
Article
566 Stereoskopia is a large, outer main-belt asteroid orbiting the Sun. It was discovered on 28 May 1905 from Heidelberg by German astronomer Paul Götz. The discovery was made from photographic plates with the use of a stereo-comparator that had been provided by Carl Pulfrich, a German physicist at the Carl Zeiss Company. The asteroid name is a reference to this device.
This object is a member of the Cybele group located beyond the core of the main belt. It is orbiting at a distance of 3.39 AU with a period of 6.23 yr and an eccentricity of 0.12. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 4.9° to the plane of the ecliptic. Light curve analysis based on photometric data collected during 2008 provide a rotation period of 12.103±0.002 h for this asteroid. It has a diameter of approximately 167 km and is classified as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid.