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
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 10 March 1890
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 113.69 yr (41526 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.46101 AU (517.760 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.28661 AU (342.072 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.87381 AU (429.916 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.87 yr (1,779.4 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 104.307 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 8.316 / day
- Inclination
- 6.69535°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 182.114°
- Argument of perihelion
- 189.219°
Article
289 Nenetta is an A-type asteroid with a diameter of 38 km. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 10 March 1890 in Nice, France. The asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.87 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.204 and an orbital period of 4.87 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 6.7° to the plane of the ecliptic.
Photometric observations taken in 2018 provided a light curve showing a synodic rotation period of 6.916±0.001 h for the asteroid with an amplitude of 0.20±0.02 in magnitude. This result is mostly consistent with previous measurements.