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
- S. B. Nicholson
- Discovery site
- Palomar Obs.
- Discovery date
- 23 June 1957
- Pronunciation
- / m ɛ n ə ˈ l eɪ ə s /
- Named after
- Menelaus , (Greek mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1957 MK
- Minor planet category
- Jupiter trojan , Greek · background
- Adjectives
- Menelaian
- Observation arc
- 65.57 yr (23,949 d)
- Aphelion
- 5.3255 AU
- Perihelion
- 5.1006 AU
- Semi major axis
- 5.2130 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 11.90 yr (4,347 d)
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Menelaus
- Followed by
- 1648 Shajna
- Follows
- Q141878
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +42.716
- Orbital period
- +4331.344112505123
Show 3 more facts
- P65
Article
1647 Menelaus /mɛnəˈleɪəs/ is a mid-sized Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 42 kilometers (26 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 23 June 1957 by American astronomer Seth Nicholson at the Palomar Observatory in California and later named after the Spartan King Menelaus from Greek mythology. The dark asteroid has a rotation period of 17.7 hours. It is the principal body of the proposed Menelaus cluster, which encompasses several, mostly tentative Jovian asteroid families.
Orbit and classification