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
- 21 October 1911
- Pronunciation
- German: [ aːˈmandaː ]
- Named after
- Amanda Schorr, wife of Richard Schorr (1867–1951) , (German astronomer)
- Alternative designations
- A911 UQ · 2016 FH 6 , 1911 ND
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) background
- Observation arc
- 104.58 yr (38,198 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.1422 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.0022 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.5722 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.13 yr (1,507 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 726 Joëlla
- Follows
- Q156750
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +23.687
- Orbital period
- +1507.301799862224
- Image
- 725Amanda (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 4 more facts
Article
725 Amanda (prov. designation: A911 UQ or 1911 ND) is a dark background asteroid, approximately 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter, that is located in the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Vienna Observatory on 21 October 1911. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (CSU/C0) has a short rotation period of 3.7 hours. It was named after Amanda Schorr, wife of German astronomer Richard Schorr (1867–1951).
Orbit and classification