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
- 10 October 1931
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɡ eɪ f i ɒ n / or / ˈ ɡ ɛ f i ɒ n /
- Named after
- Gefjon , (Norse mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1931 TZ 1 · A917 SF
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , Gefion
- Adjectives
- Gefionian / ɡ ɛ f i ˈ oʊ n i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 99.50 yr (36,344 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.2076 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.3604 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.7840 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
Article
1272 Gefion, provisional designation 1931 TZ1, is a stony asteroid and parent body of the Gefion family from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 October 1931, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in Germany. The asteroid was named after Gefjon from Norse mythology.
Orbit and classification