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
- A. Borrelly
- Discovery site
- Marseille Obs.
- Discovery date
- 27 November 1891
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ f iː oʊ /
- Named after
- Φαιώ Phaiō , (Greek mythology)
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , Phaeo
- Adjectives
- Phaeoian / f iː ˈ oʊ . i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 126.48 yr (46,198 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.4656 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.0960 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.7808 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.64 yr (1,694 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 110.49 °
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 323 Brucia
- Follows
- 321 Florentina
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +69.855
- Orbital period
- +1696.526959489133
Show 4 more facts
- P720
Article
322 Phaeo is an asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 27 November 1891, by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly at the Marseille Observatory in southern France. The presumably metallic X-type asteroid is the principal body of the Phaeo family and has a rotation period of 17.6 hours. It was named for the Greek mythological figure Phaeo, one of the Hyades or nymphs. Several other asteroids were named for other of the Hyades – 193 Ambrosia, 158 Koronis, 217 Eudora, and 308 Polyxo.
References