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 site
- Simeiz Observatory
- Discovery date
- 25 January 1914
- Pronunciation
- / ɑːr ˈ m iː i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1914 UC
- Observation arc
- 107.14 yr (39134 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.4169 AU (511.16 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.8119 AU (420.65 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.1144 AU (465.91 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.50 yr (2007.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 346.438 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 10 45.552 / day
- Inclination
- 19.085°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 781 Kartvelia
- Follows
- 779 Nina
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +126.263
- Orbital period
- +2007.582279001166
Show 3 more facts
- P6259
Article
780 Armenia is a minor planet in the asteroid belt orbiting the Sun. It is named after the Kingdom of Armenia, now Armenia. This object is orbiting at a distance of 3.11 AU with an eccentricity of 0.097 and a period of 5.50 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 19.1° to the plane of rotation. This asteroid spans a girth of ~94 km. The long rotation period of this asteroid necessitated light curve data from more than one latitude. The overlapping data provided a solution with a period of 19.891±0.002 h and a brightness amplitude of 0.18±0.03 in magnitude.
This object is the namesake of the Armenia family, a family of 13–76 asteroids that share similar spectral properties and orbital elements; hence they may have arisen from the same collisional event. All members have a relatively high orbital inclination.