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
- 10 May 1924
- Pronunciation
- / tj uː ˈ t oʊ n i ə /
- Named after
- Land of the Teutons
- Alternative designations
- 1924 RO · 1925 XF, 1929 RP · 1949 KX, 1954 UY 1 · 1958 RG, 1958 UP · A907 EE
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle )
- Observation arc
- 109.95 yr (40,158 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.9470 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2044 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.5757 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.13 yr (1,510 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Teutons
- Followed by
- 1045 Michela
- Follows
- Q121603
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +17.511
- Orbital period
- +1511.258776771224
Show 3 more facts
- P65
Article
1044 Teutonia, provisional designation 1924 RO, is a stony asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 May 1924, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after the land inhabited by the Teutonic people.
Classification and orbit