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
- Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
- Discovery date
- 15 June 1866
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ θ ɪ z b iː /
- Named after
- Thisbē
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Thisbean / θ ɪ z ˈ b iː ə n / , / ˈ θ ɪ z b i ə n /
- Aphelion
- 482.242 Gm (3.224 AU)
- Perihelion
- 345.809 Gm (2.312 AU)
- Semi major axis
- 414.025 Gm (2.768 AU)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 1,681.709 d (4.60 yr)
- Mean anomaly
- 165.454°
- Inclination
- 5.219°
- Longitude of ascending node
Article
88 Thisbe is the 13th largest main-belt asteroid. C. H. F. Peters discovered it on 15 June 1866, named after Thisbe, heroine of a Roman fable. This asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.768 AU over a period of 4.60 years and an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.165. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 5.219° to the ecliptic.
On 7 October 1981, asteroid 88 Thisbe was observed to occult the 9th-magnitude star SAO 187124 from 12 sites. The timing of the different chords across the asteroid provided a diameter estimate of 232±12 km. This is 10% larger than the diameter estimate based on radiometric techniques. During 2000, 88 Thisbe was observed by radar from the Arecibo Observatory. The return signal matched an effective diameter of 207 ± 22 km. This is consistent with the asteroid dimensions computed through other means.