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
- S. Belyavskyj
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 9 February 1912
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɛər ə /
- Named after
- American Relief Administration
- Alternative designations
- A912 CD · 1935 FU, 1960 WN · A915 UB, 1912 NY · 1915 Σai
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) background
- Observation arc
- 100.58 yr (36,737 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.7783 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.5141 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1462 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.58 yr (2,038 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q157421
- Follows
- Q157409
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +80.756
- Orbital period
- +2038.291903601445
- Image
- 849Ara (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 4 more facts
Article
849 Ara (prov. designation: A912 CD or 1912 NY) is a large, metallic background asteroid, approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) in diameter, that is located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 February 1912, by Russian astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The M-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 4.1 hours and is likely elongated in shape. It was named after the American Relief Administration (ARA) for the help given during the Russian famine of 1921–22.
Orbit and classification