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
- 30 August 1927
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɔːr k ɪ s /
- Named after
- Orchis ( flowering plant )
- Alternative designations
Article
1080 Orchis, provisional designation 1927 QB, is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 30 August 1927, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The carbonaceous F-type asteroid has a rotation period of 16.1 hours and measures approximately 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter. It was named after the flowering plant Orchis.
Orbit and classification