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
- 12 November 1923
- Named after
- Marlene Dietrich , (German actress and singer)
- Alternative designations
- 1923 PF · 1937 NB 1 , 1950 CJ · 1950 EY, A903 UD · A908 VA, 1923 PF
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer )
- Observation arc
- 113.61 yr (41,495 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.2329 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6278 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.9303 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.02 yr (1,832 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 265.92 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Marlene Dietrich
- Followed by
- Q11546
- Follows
- Q11541
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +46.876
- Orbital period
- +1830.665390027224
- Image
- 001010-asteroid shape model (1010) Marlene.png
Show 3 more facts
Article
1010 Marlene (prov. designation: A923 VH or 1923 PF) is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 47 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 November 1923, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich.
Classification and orbit