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
- J. Palisa
- Discovery site
- Austrian Naval Obs.
- Discovery date
- 21 April 1874
- Pronunciation
- / m ɛ l ɪ ˈ b iː ə /
- Named after
- Meliboea , daughter of Oceanus
- Alternative designations
- A874 HA · A923 FA · 1958 UE · 1962 GB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Meliboea
- Adjectives
- Meliboean / m ɛ l ɪ ˈ b iː ə n /
- Observation arc
- 133.02 yr (48,587 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.7859 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.4619 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1239 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Meliboea
- Followed by
- Q109891
- Follows
- 136 Austria
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +128.678
- Orbital period
- +2019.025139381822
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
137 Meliboea is a large, dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer J. Palisa at the Austrian Naval Observatory on 21 April 1874, the second of his many asteroid discoveries. It was later named after Meliboea, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys in Greek mythology. The largest body in the Meliboea family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements, only 791 Ani approaches its size. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and may be composed of carbonaceous materials. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.
Photometric observations of this asteroid made at the Torino Observatory in Italy during 1990–1991 were used to determine a synodic rotation period of 15.28 ± 0.02 hours. A 2009 study at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico found a period of 25.676 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.16 ± 0.02 in magnitude. They ruled out a period of 15 hours determined in previous studies.