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
- Robert Luther
- Discovery site
- Düsseldorf-Bilk Obs.
- Discovery date
- 20 February 1890
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɡ l ɔː k iː /
- Named after
- Creusa , (a.k.a. Glauce or Glauke)
- Alternative designations
- A890 DA, 1955 MO, 1959 GB, 1961 WF
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 124.34 yr (45416 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.32685 AU (497.690 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.19625 AU (328.554 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.76155 AU (413.122 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.59 yr (1676.2 d )
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Glauce
- Followed by
- Q150280
- Follows
- 287 Nephthys
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +28.981
- Orbital period
- +1673.878450084512
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
288 Glauke is a stony, tumbling asteroid and slow rotator from the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 32 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 February 1890, by Robert Luther at Düsseldorf-Bilk Observatory in Germany. This was the last of his asteroid discoveries. It is named after Creusa (known as Glauce or Glauke), a daughter of Creon, a king of Corinth in Greek mythology.
This body is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.76 AU with a moderate eccentricity of 0.20 and an orbital period of 4.59 years. Its orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 4.3° relative to the plane of the ecliptic. It is a common, stony S-type asteroid in both the Tholen and SMASS classification. Based on infrared observations, it has a diameter of 29 km.