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
- K. Reinmuth
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 31 October 1923
- Pronunciation
- German: [ ˈziːʁeːnə ]
- Named after
- Siren (Σειρήν - Sīrēn) (Greek mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1923 PE
- Minor planet category
- Mars-crosser
- Observation arc
- 92.69 yr (33,854 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.8207 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.4259 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6233 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.25 yr (1,552 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 11.512 °
Article
Sirene (minor planet designation: 1009 Sirene), provisional designation 1923 PE, is an eccentric asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 31 October 1923. The asteroid was named after the Siren from Greek mythology.
Orbit and classification