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
- H. E. Wood
- Discovery site
- Johannesburg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 21 May 1922
- Named after
- John Franklin Adams , (British astronomer)
- Alternative designations
- A922 KF · 1922 MD, 1928 QF · 1938 HG
- Minor planet category
Article
982 Franklina (prov. designation: A922 KF or 1922 MD) is a background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 21 May 1922, by South African astronomer Harry Edwin Wood at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The uncommon A/Ld-type asteroid has a rotation period of at least 16 hours. It was named after British amateur astronomer John Franklin Adams (1843–1912).
Orbit and classification