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
- G. Shajn
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 16 August 1925
- Named after
- Wanda Wasilewska , (Polish–Soviet writer)
- Alternative designations
- 1925 QB · 1937 AF, 1950 QY · 1965 WG
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 91.88 yr (33,558 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.6116 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.1853 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.8984 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.93 yr (1,802 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 224.08 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Wanda Wasilewska
- Followed by
- Q132879
- Follows
- Q132876
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +44.657
- Orbital period
- +1796.190140634565
Show 3 more facts
- P65
Article
1057 Wanda, provisional designation 1925 QB, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 43 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Grigory Shajn at the Simeiz Observatory in 1925, and later named after Polish–Soviet writer Wanda Wasilewska. The asteroid has a rotation period of 28.8 hours.
Discovery