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
- 6 October 1931
- Named after
- Neckar (German river )
- Alternative designations
- 1931 TG · 1930 MN, 1931 TA 1 · 1953 FC, A907 VD · A909 BD, A917 XC · A917 YA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis
- Observation arc
- 109.58 yr (40,025 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.0395 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6977 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.8686 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.86 yr (1,775 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 235.10 °
- Mean motion
Article
1223 Neckar, provisional designation 1931 TG, is a stony Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. Discovered by Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in 1931, the asteroid was named for the German river Neckar. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 7.8 hours.
Discovery