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
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 16 November 1925
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- 1925 WA · 1929 RM
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Observation arc
- 91.55 yr (33,439 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.8669 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.3616 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6143 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.23 yr (1,544 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 280.15 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 59.52 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q132871
- Follows
- 1052 Belgica
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +9.11
- Orbital period
- +1545.112621087372
Show 3 more facts
Article
1053 Vigdis, provisional designation 1925 WA, is a bright background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 November 1925, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany. The meaning of the asteroids's name is unknown.
Orbit and classification