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. Beljavskij
- Discovery site
- Simeis
- Discovery date
- 8 June 1923
- Alternative designations
- 1923 NP
- Observation arc
- 112.34 yr (41031 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.0547 AU (456.98 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.1748 AU (325.35 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.6148 AU (391.17 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.23 yr (1544.4 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 306.02 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 59.196 / day
- Inclination
- 13.054°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 221.747°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Pavel Shternberg
- Followed by
- Q158511
- Follows
- 994 Otthild
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +20.222
- Orbital period
- +1544.922480211377
- Image
- 000995-asteroid shape model (995) Sternberga.png
Show 3 more facts
Article
995 Sternberga is a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1923 by Sergei Belyavsky at Simeiz Observatory. It was named after Russian astronomer Pavel Shternberg.
Photometric observations of this asteroid collected during 2004 show a rotation period of 15.26 ± 0.01 hours with a brightness variation of 0.15 ± 0.03 magnitude.