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
- E. Ernst
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 6 October 1910
- Pronunciation
- / ər ˈ m ɪ n i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1910 KV
- Observation arc
- 105.53 yr (38544 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.0635189 AU (458.29590 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7809463 AU (416.02365 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.92223259 AU (437.159773 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.00 yr (1824.6 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 348.73426 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 50.288 / day
- Inclination
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 706 Hirundo
- Follows
- Q156655
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +132.261
- Orbital period
- +1824.242389061751
Show 4 more facts
Article
705 Erminia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. Its name derives from the comic opera Erminie. An occultation on 8 December 2014 gave 3 chords, with one measurement suggesting a small moon 6–10 kilometers wide at a distance of 400 kilometers to the primary.
See also