Q137874

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

Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters

Discovery site

Litchfield Observatory

Discovery date

24 May 1873

Pronunciation

/ ˈ v ɑː l ə /

Named after

vǫlva

Alternative designations

A873 KA; 1945 KA;, 1952 DS 3 ; 1953 QE

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

152.54 yr

Aphelion

2.60 AU (389.00 Gm )

Perihelion

2.26 AU (338.50 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.43 AU (363.75 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.79 yr (1,384.89 d )

Average orbital speed

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

seeress

Followed by

132 Aethra

Follows

130 Elektra

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+31.337

Mass

+69

Orbital period

+1384.890383728868