699 Hela

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

J. Helffrich

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

5 June 1910

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h iː l ə /

Alternative designations

1902 WE · 1910 LC · 1923 TB · 1948 KD · 1957 WX 1

Minor planet category

Mars crosser

Observation arc

113.38 yr (41,411 d)

Aphelion

3.6831 AU (550.98 Gm )

Perihelion

1.5414 AU (230.59 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6123 AU (390.79 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.22 yr (1,542.1 d)

Mean anomaly

3.93957 °

Mean motion

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Hel

Followed by

Q156627

Follows

698 Ernestina

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

Mars-crossing asteroid

Orbital period

+1544.405486890374

Image

699Hela (Lightcurve Inversion).png