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
- Johann Palisa
- Discovery date
- 26 April 1884
- Pronunciation
- / h ɒ ˈ n ɔːr i ə /
- Named after
- Justa Grata Honoria
- Alternative designations
- A884 HA, 1904 PA, 1930 KK , 1953 GJ 1
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 131.97 yr (48201 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3307 AU (498.27 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.2651 AU (338.85 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.79787 AU (418.555 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.68 yr (1709.4 d )
- Average orbital speed
- 17.8 km/s
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Justa Grata Honoria
- Followed by
- 237 Coelestina
- Follows
- 235 Carolina
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +77.708
- Orbital period
- +1711.050064163299
Show 5 more facts
- P65
Article
236 Honoria is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 26 April 1884 in Vienna. The asteroid was named after Honoria, granddaughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, who started negotiations with Attila the Hun. It is classified as a stony S-type asteroid based upon its spectrum. 236 Honoria is orbiting close to a 5:2 mean motion resonance with Jupiter, which is located at 2.824 AU.
Polarimetric study of this asteroid reveals anomalous properties that suggests the regolith consists of a mixture of low and high albedo material. This may have been caused by fragmentation of an asteroid substrate with the spectral properties of CO3/CV3 carbonaceous chondrites.