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
- Karl Theodor Robert Luther
- Discovery date
- March 24, 1860
- Pronunciation
- / k ə n ˈ k ɔːr d i ə /
- Named after
- Concordia
- Minor planet category
- Main belt Nemesis
- Adjectives
- Concordian
- Aphelion
- 2.818 AU (421.526 million km)
- Perihelion
- 2.583 AU (386.457 million km)
- Semi major axis
- 2.701 AU (403.991 million km)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.44 a (1620.946 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 15.122°
- Inclination
- 5.057°
- Longitude of ascending node
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Concordia
- Followed by
- 59 Elpis
- Follows
- 57 Mnemosyne
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +106.517
- Orbital period
- +1620.343172608478
Show 5 more facts
- P65
Article
58 Concordia is a fairly large main-belt asteroid that is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.44 years, a semimajor axis of 2.7 AU, and a low eccentricity of 0.043. It is classified as a C-type asteroid, meaning that its surface is very dark and it is likely carbonaceous in composition. The surface spectra displays indications of hydrated minerals created through aqueous alteration. The object is rotating with a sidereal period of 9.894541 h and pole orientations of (15.3°±0.7°, −4.2°±2.6°) and (195.9°±1.0°, 4.8°±1.2°). It belongs to the Nemesis family of asteroids.
Concordia was discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther on March 24, 1860. At Luther's request, it was named by Karl Christian Bruhns of the University of Leipzig after Concordia, the Roman goddess of harmony.