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
- A. Schaumasse
- Discovery site
- Nice Obs.
- Discovery date
- 23 November 1921
- Pronunciation
- / æ l ˈ s eɪ ʃ ə /
- Named after
- Alsace (French province)
- Alternative designations
- 1921 LF · 1961 AA, A908 UE
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background , EUN – ( interloper )
- Observation arc
- 108.67 yr (39,693 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.0666 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2182 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6424 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.30 yr (1,569 days)
- Mean anomaly
Article
971 Alsatia, provisional designation 1921 LF, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 23 November 1921, by French astronomer Alexandre Schaumasse at Nice Observatory in southeastern France. The asteroid was named after the French province Alsace.
Orbit and classification