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 site
- Vienna Obs.
- Discovery date
- 21 September 1887
- Pronunciation
- / dʒ ʌ ˈ s t ɪ ʃ i ə /
- Named after
- Justitia
- Alternative designations
- A887 SA, 1942 XY
- Minor planet category
- Main belt ( middle ) · background
- Aphelion
- 3.179 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.048 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.613 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.22 yr (1,543 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 244.365 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 59.88 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Lady Justice
- Followed by
- Q149973
- Follows
- 268 Adorea
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +50.728
- Orbital period
- +1542.891537287055
- Image
- 269 Justitia occultation chords - Buie 2025 et al. Fig 5.jpg
Show 4 more facts
Article
269 Justitia is an asteroid located in the middle main asteroid belt. It was discovered on 21 September 1887 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at Vienna Observatory and was named after Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice. The asteroid is about 58 kilometres (36 mi) in diameter and rotates relatively slowly, with a rotation period of 33.1 hours. Justitia is one of the targets of the United Arab Emirates' upcoming MBR Explorer mission, which will visit seven different asteroids in the asteroid belt during the 2030s. MBR Explorer is planned to enter orbit around Justitia via rendezvous in 2034 and will end its mission after dropping a lander to the asteroid's surface in 2035.
Justitia is unusual in that it has a much redder color compared to any other asteroid in the asteroid belt. Spectroscopic observations show that Justitia's color and composition appears to resemble those of centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects from the outer Solar System, whose surfaces are composed of ices and complex organic compounds (tholins). Hence, researchers believe that Justitia originated from the outer Solar System and then migrated inward to its present-day location in the asteroid belt. Only a few other asteroids have been identified to exhibit very red colors like Justitia, with 203 Pompeja and 732 Tjilaki as examples from the main asteroid belt.