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
- L. Chernykh
- Discovery site
- Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
- Discovery date
- 8 October 1969
- Named after
- Sergey Korolyov , (Soviet rocket engineer)
- Alternative designations
- 1969 TU 1 · 1961 JD, 1964 DD
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · Flora
- Observation arc
- 55.74 yr (20,358 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.4363 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.0583 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.2473 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.37 yr (1,231 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 286.81 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Sergei Korolev
- Followed by
- 1856 Růžena
- Follows
- 1854 Skvortsov
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +6.789
- Orbital period
- +1230.957271198501
- Image
- 001855-asteroid shape model (1855) Korolev.png
Show 3 more facts
Article
1855 Korolev (prov. designation: 1969 TU1) is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. Discovered in 1969, it was later named after Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev.
Discovery