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
- Karl Theodor Robert Luther
- Discovery date
- March 15, 1863
- Pronunciation
- / d aɪ ˈ æ n ə , d aɪ ˈ eɪ n ə / dy- A(Y)N -ə
- Named after
- Diāna (Roman mythology)
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
Article
78 Diana is a large and dark main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther on March 15, 1863, and named after Diana, Roman goddess of the hunt. The asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.620 AU with a period of 4.24 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.207. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 8.688° relative to the plane of the ecliptic. Its composition is carbonaceous and primitive.
Photometric observations of this asteroid during 1986 and 2006–08 gave a light curve with a rotation period of 7.2991 hours and a brightness variation in the range 0.02–0.104 magnitude. Based upon radar data, the near surface solid density of the asteroid is 2.7 −0.5 g cm. 78 Diana occulted a star on September 4, 1980. A diameter of 116 km was measured, closely matching the value given by the IRAS satellite.