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
- 1 November 1875
- Pronunciation
- / æ b ə n ˈ d æ n ʃ i ə /
- Named after
- Abundantia
- Alternative designations
- A875 VA; 1974 QS 2 , 1974 QZ 2
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 131.24 yr (47936 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.6792 AU (400.80 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.5049 AU (374.73 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.5921 AU (387.77 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.17 yr (1524.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Abundantia
- Followed by
- 152 Atala
- Follows
- Q140120
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +39.037
- Orbital period
- +1523.315811419845
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
151 Abundantia is a stony main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 1 November 1875, from the Austrian Naval Observatory in Pula. The name was chosen by Edmund Weiss of the Vienna Observatory; although the name refers to Abundantia, a Roman goddess of luck, it was also chosen to celebrate the increasing numbers of asteroids that were being discovered in the 1870s.
Information from A. Harris as of 1 March 2001 indicates that 151 Abundantia is an S class (stony) asteroid with a diameter of 45.37 km and H = 9.24 .1728 and albedo of 0.03. The light curve collected over 6 nights from 2/16/2002 to 3/10/2002 confirmed the rotational period to be 19.718h.