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
- 5 October 1931
- Pronunciation
- / dʒ ə ˈ r eɪ n i ə m /
- Named after
- Geranium , ( flowering plant )
- Alternative designations
- 1931 TD · 1934 CL 1
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 86.14 yr (31,463 d )
- Aphelion
- 3.8358 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6018 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.2188 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.77 yr (2,109 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q137153
- Follows
- 1226 Golia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +46.269
- Orbital period
- +2110.695694961804
Show 3 more facts
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
1227 Geranium, provisional designation 1931 TD, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 46 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1931, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory. The asteroid was named for the flowering plant Geranium (cranesbills).
Orbit and classification