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. C. Watson
- Discovery date
- 18 October 1875
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ nj uː w ɑː /
- Named after
- Nüwa
- Alternative designations
- A875 UA; 1908 AL;, 2002 JR 70
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 116.94 yr (42714 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3586 AU (502.44 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.6084 AU (390.21 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.9835 AU (446.33 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.15 yr (1882.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 138.03 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 28.536 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Nüwa
- Followed by
- Q140273
- Follows
- 149 Medusa
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +119.128
- Orbital period
- +1883.467224661361
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
150 Nuwa is a large main-belt asteroid with an orbital period of 5.15 years. It was discovered by Canadian-American astronomer James Craig Watson on 18 October 1875, and named after Nüwa, the Chinese creator goddess. This object is a candidate member of the Hecuba group of asteroids that orbit near the 2:1 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. Based upon the spectrum it is classified as a C-type asteroid, which indicates that it is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous chondritic material and the surface is exceedingly dark.
Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Catania Astrophysical Observatory during 1992 and 1993 gave a light curve with a period of 8.140 ± 0.005 hours. In 2004, an additional photometric study was performed at Swilken Brae Observatory in St Andrews, Fife, yielding a probable period of 8.1364 ± 0.0008 hours and a brightness variation of 0.26 ± 0.03 in magnitude. A 2011 study from Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave a period of 8.1347 ± 0.0001 hours with a brightness variation of 0.17 ± 0.02 magnitude, which is consistent with prior results.