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
- G. Neujmin
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 13 September 1931
- Named after
- Marina Lavrova–Berg , (Soviet scientist)
- Alternative designations
- 1931 RL · 1931 TH, 1980 BL 3 · A924 WG, A924 YA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda
- Observation arc
- 92.99 yr (33,964 days)
- Aphelion
- 4.6621 AU
- Perihelion
- 3.3339 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.9980 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 7.99 yr (2,920 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 346.16 °
- Mean motion
Article
1202 Marina (provisional designation 1931 RL) is a primitive Hildian background asteroid from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 55 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Grigory Neujmin at the Simeiz Observatory in 1931, and later named in honor of Marina Lavrova–Berg, a scientific collaborator at Pulkovo Observatory, who died at an early age during WWII.
Discovery