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
- Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
- Discovery date
- September 22, 1862
- Pronunciation
- / j ʊ ˈ r ɪ d ɪ k iː /
- Named after
- Eurydice
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Eurydikean / ˌ j ʊər ɪ d ɪ ˈ k iː ə n /
- Aphelion
- 521.874 million km (3.489 AU)
- Perihelion
- 278.028 million km (1.858 AU)
- Semi major axis
- 399.951 million km (2.674 AU )
- Orbital period sidereal
- 1596.687 d (4.37 a )
- Average orbital speed
- 17.79 km/s
- Mean anomaly
- 26.318°
- Inclination
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Eurydice
- Followed by
- 76 Freia
- Follows
- 74 Galatea
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +62.377
- Mass
- +180
- Orbital period
- +1596.17684103172
Show 4 more facts
Article
75 Eurydike is a large main-belt asteroid. It has an M-type spectrum and a relatively high albedo and may be rich in nickel-iron. Eurydike was discovered by German-American astronomer C. H. F. Peters on September 22, 1862. It was second of his numerous asteroid discoveries and is named after Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus. The asteroid is orbiting the Sun for a period of 4.37 years and completes a rotation about its axis every 5.4 hours.
References