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
- 25 January 1933
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ h ɛ d ə r ə /
- Named after
- Hedera (a.k.a. "Ivy")
- Alternative designations
- 1933 BE · 1929 CD 1 , 1931 TJ 2 · 1975 NW 1 , A907 GD · A915 CA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Observation arc
- 102.80 yr (37,548 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.1452 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2884 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.7168 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.48 yr (1,636 days)
- Mean anomaly
Article
1251 Hedera (prov. designation: 1933 BE) is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 25 January 1933, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named for the climbing plant Hedera, commonly known as "ivy".
Orbit and classification