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
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 22 January 1917
- Pronunciation
- / ɑː ˈ iː d ə /
- Named after
- Aida (Italian opera)
- Alternative designations
- 1917 BE · 1939 BL, 1947 OF · 1950 BW 1 , A906 BG · A918 GA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer )
- Observation arc
- 110.96 yr (40,527 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.4604 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.8158 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1381 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.56 yr (2,030 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Aida
- Followed by
- 862 Franzia
- Follows
- Q157481
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +66.85
- Orbital period
- +2034.254126759747
Show 3 more facts
Article
861 Aïda /ɑːˈiːdə/ is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 65 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 January 1917, by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany, and given the provisional designation 1917 BE. It was named after the Italian opera Aida.
Orbit and classification