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
- 27 October 1927
- Pronunciation
- / j uː ˈ b iː ə /
- Named after
- Euboea (Greek island)
- Alternative designations
- 1927 UB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) background
- Observation arc
- 90.10 yr (32,908 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.0172 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2036 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6104 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.22 yr (1,540 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 190.40 °
Article
1119 Euboea (/juːˈbiːə/; prov. designation: 1927 UB) is a background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 27 October 1927, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid has a rotation period of 11.4 hours and measures approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter. It was named for the Greek island of Euboea.
Orbit and classification