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
- 28 October 1927
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ p ɪr ə l ə /
- Named after
- Pyrola ( wintergreen ), ( herbaceous plant )
- Alternative designations
- 1927 UC · 1931 JQ, 1951 AH · 1952 DS, 1971 YJ · A916 UP
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis
- Observation arc
- 90.01 yr (32,875 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.6858 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.5553 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1205 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.51 yr (2,013 days)
- Mean anomaly
Article
1082 Pirola /ˈpɪrələ/ is a dark Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 28 October 1927, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany, and assigned the provisional designation 1927 UC. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 15.9 hours and measures approximately 41 kilometers (25 miles) in diameter. It was named after the herbaceous plant Pyrola (wintergreen).
Orbit and classification