578 Happelia

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

578 Happelia (A905 VJ)

Orbit class

Main-belt Asteroid

Diameter

69.290 km

Albedo

0.077

Rotation period

10.061 h

Absolute magnitude

9.540 H

Earth MOID

1.210 AU

via NASA/JPL Small-Body Database

Key facts

Discovered by

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

1 November 1905

Alternative designations

1905 RZ

Observation arc

110.46 yr (40344 d)

Aphelion

3.2821 AU (491.00 Gm )

Perihelion

2.2168 AU (331.63 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7494 AU (411.30 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.56 yr (1665.2 d )

Mean anomaly

200.53 °

Mean motion

0° 12 58.284 / day

Inclination

6.1525°

Longitude of ascending node

29.411°

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q155655

Follows

Q155650

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+69.29

Orbital period

+1666.117259835041

Image

578Happelia (Lightcurve Inversion).png