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. Neujmin
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 27 March 1916
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- A916 FH · A904 UB, 1916 ZL · 1904 UB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( inner ) Bg · Flora
- Observation arc
- 114.92 yr (41,974 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.3937 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.0578 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.2257 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.32 yr (1,213 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 112.91 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 17 48.48 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q157305
- Follows
- Q157291
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +13.423
- Orbital period
- +1212.891971824384
- Image
- 825Tanina (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 4 more facts
Article
825 Tanina (prov. designation: A916 FH or 1916 ZL) is a stony background asteroid from the region of the Flora family, located in the inner part of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 27 March 1916, by Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin at the Simeiz Observatory on Crimea. The elongated S-type asteroid (SR) has a rotation period of 6.9 hours and measures approximately 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) in diameter. Any reference of the asteroid's name to a person is unknown.
Orbit and classification