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
- 21 May 1917
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- A917 KJ · 1917 CA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) background
- Observation arc
- 102.24 yr (37,343 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.0199 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2346 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6273 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.26 yr (1,555 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 48.264 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 53.04 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Mechthild of Magdeburg
- Followed by
- 874 Rotraut
- Follows
- Q157549
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +34.471
- Orbital period
- +1555.501136161384
Show 4 more facts
- P61
- Max Wolf
- P65
Article
873 Mechthild (prov. designation: A917 KJ or 1917 CA) is a dark background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory on 21 May 1917. The primitive P-type asteroid has a rotation period of 11.0 hours and measures approximately 34 kilometers (21 miles) in diameter. The origin of the asteroid's name remains unknown.
Orbit and classification