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
- G. N. Neujmin
- Discovery date
- 3 September 1913
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ p ʊ l k ə v ə /
- Named after
- Pulkovo Heights
- Alternative designations
- 1913 SQ
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Pulcovian / p ʊ l ˈ k oʊ v i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 100.08 yr (36553 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.4801 AU (520.62 Gm ) (Q)
- Perihelion
- 2.8291 AU (423.23 Gm) (q)
- Semi major axis
- 3.1546 AU (471.92 Gm) (a)
- Eccentricity
- 0.10319 (e)
- Orbital period sidereal
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Pulkovo Heights
- Followed by
- Q156988
- Follows
- Q156983
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +147.343
- Radius
- +68.54
- Mass
- +1.40
- Orbital period
- +2044.44903578276
- Image
- 762 Pulcova Hubble.jpg
Show 4 more facts
Article
762 Pulcova is a main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by Grigoriy N. Neujmin in 1913, and is named after Pulkovo Observatory, near Saint Petersburg. Pulcova is 137 km in diameter, and is a C-type asteroid, which means that it is dark in colouring with a carbonate composition.
Photometric observations of this asteroid from Leura, Australia during 2006 gave a light curve with a period of 5.8403 ± 0.0005 hours and a brightness variation of 0.20 ± 0.02 in magnitude. This result is in agreement with previous studies.