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
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 23 March 1908
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ n ɛ s t ər /
- Named after
- Nestor ( Greek mythology )
- Alternative designations
- 1908 CS · A914 WF
- Minor planet category
- Jupiter trojan , Greek · background
- Adjectives
- Nestorian
- Observation arc
- 110.17 yr (40,238 d)
- Aphelion
- 5.7800 AU
- Perihelion
- 4.5604 AU
- Semi major axis
- 5.1702 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 11.76 yr (4,294 d)
Article
659 Nestor /ˈnɛstər/ is a dark Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 110 kilometers (68 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 23 March 1908, by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, and named after King Nestor from Greek mythology. The carbonaceous Jovian asteroid belongs to the 20 largest Jupiter trojans and has a rotation period of 15.98 hours.
Orbit and classification