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
- H. P. Tuttle
- Discovery site
- Harvard College Obs.
- Discovery date
- 9 April 1861
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ m eɪ . ə /
- Named after
- Maia ( Greek mythology )
- Alternative designations
- 1947 FO · 1974 KR, 1992 OX 10 · A902 UF, A906 QD
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Adjectives
- Majan
- Observation arc
- 156.54 yr (57,178 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.1021 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.1884 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6453 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
Article
66 Maja (/ˈmeɪə/) is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 71 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 April 1861, by American astronomer Horace Tuttle at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The asteroid was named after Maia from Greek mythology.
Orbit and classification