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
- C. Jackson
- Discovery site
- Johannesburg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 13 May 1931
- Named after
- Aletta Jackson, (discoverer's wife)
- Alternative designations
- 1931 JG · 1946 KC, 1962 SB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer )
- Observation arc
- 85.07 yr (31,072 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.1812 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6452 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.9132 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.97 yr (1,816 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 138.73 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 53.52 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q136907
- Follows
- 1193 Africa
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +41.358
- Orbital period
- +1817.112837973096
Show 3 more facts
- P6259
Article
1194 Aletta, provisional designation 1931 JG, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 55 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 May 1931, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at Johannesburg Observatory in South Africa. It was later named after the discoverer's wife Aletta Jackson.
Classification and orbit