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
- 29 April 1861
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ l ɛ t oʊ /
- Named after
- Λητώ Lētō
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Letoian / l iː ˈ t oʊ . i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 152.08 yr (55548 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.30153 AU (493.902 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.26072 AU (338.199 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.78112 AU (416.050 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.64 yr (1,694.1 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 48.7204 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Leto
- Followed by
- 69 Hesperia
- Follows
- 67 Asia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +122.509
- Orbital period
- +1695.557119746002
- Image
- 68Leto (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 4 more facts
Article
68 Leto is a large main belt asteroid that is orbiting the Sun. The asteroid was discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther on April 29, 1861, and is named after Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis in Greek mythology. It orbits at a distance of 2.78112 AU over 4.64 years and has an orbital eccentricity of 0.187. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 7.97° to the ecliptic.
Photometric observations of 68 Leto during 1997 provided a rotation period of 14.856 ± 0.024 h. It has an estimated cross-sectional size of 123 km. The spectral type is S, suggesting a stony, silicate composition.