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. Palisa
- Discovery site
- Vienna Obs.
- Discovery date
- 18 October 1911
- Pronunciation
- German: [ ˈfʁiːdaː ]
- Named after
- Frieda Hillebrand, daughter and grand-daughter of: , Karl Hillebrand [ de ] (1861–1939) , Edmund Weiss (1837–1917)
- Alternative designations
- A911 UN · 1926 GR, 1946 SH · 1911 NA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( inner ) background
- Observation arc
- 109.52 yr (40,002 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.4858 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.8575 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.1717 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.20 yr (1,169 d)
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q156745
- Follows
- Q156738
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +8.257
- Orbital period
- +1168.928611116676
Show 3 more facts
- P6259
Article
722 Frieda (prov. designation: A911 UN or 1911 NA) is a bright background asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory on 18 October 1911. The stony S-type asteroid has a notably long rotation period of 131.1 hours and measures approximately 9 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. It was named after Frieda Hillebrand, daughter of Austrian astronomer Karl Hillebrand [de] (1861–1939), and grand-daughter of Edmund Weiss (1837–1917) who had been the director of the discovering observatory.
Orbit and classification