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
Small body data
590 Tomyris (A906 ED)
- Orbit class
- Main-belt Asteroid
- Diameter
- 30.577 km
- Albedo
- 0.187
- Rotation period
- 5.553 h
- Absolute magnitude
- 10.040 H
Article
590 Tomyris is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. Its name derives from the Massagetean (ancient Eastern Iranian) ruler Tomyris, and may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation 1906 TO.
References