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
- 31 August 1927
- Pronunciation
- / r ɪ ˈ s iː d ə /
- Named after
- Resēda (mignonette), ( herbaceous plant )
- Alternative designations
- 1927 QF · 1949 UA 1 , 1975 LS
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) background
- Observation arc
- 89.85 yr (32,816 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.5567 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6505 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1036 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.47 yr (1,997 days)
- Mean anomaly
Article
1081 Reseda (prov. designation: 1927 QF) is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 31 August 1927, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid has a rotation period of 7.3 hours and measures approximately 37 kilometers (23 miles) in diameter. It was named after the herbaceous plant Reseda.
Orbit and classification