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
- P. Shajn
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 15 August 1928
- Named after
- Ekaterina Iosko , (assistant at Simeiz Observatory)
- Alternative designations
- 1928 QC · A909 DH
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 108.74 yr (39,719 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.5537 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6687 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1112 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.49 yr (2,004 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 341.95 °
- Mean motion
Article
1113 Katja (provisional designation 1928 QC) is a background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 39 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Pelageya Shajn at the Simeiz Observatory in 1928, and named after Ekaterina Iosko, a staff member at the discovering observatory.
Discovery