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
- 25 February 1892
- Pronunciation
- / b æ m ˈ b ɜːr ɡ ə /
- Named after
- Bamberg
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Bambergian / b æ m ˈ b ɜːr dʒ i ə n , - ɡ i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 124.08 yr (45321 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.59442 AU (537.718 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.77023 AU (264.823 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.68232 AU (401.269 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.39 yr (1604.6 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 225.419 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Bamberg
- Followed by
- 325 Heidelberga
- Follows
- 323 Brucia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +220.691
- Mass
- +11
- Orbital period
- +1604.636834201906
- Image
- 324 Bamberga.gif
Show 4 more facts
Article
324 Bamberga is one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 25 February 1892 in Vienna. It is one of the top-20 largest asteroids in the asteroid belt. Apart from the near-Earth asteroid Eros, it was the last asteroid which is ever easily visible with binoculars to be discovered.
Overall Bamberga is the tenth-brightest main-belt asteroid after, in order, Vesta, Pallas, Ceres, Iris, Hebe, Juno, Melpomene, Eunomia and Flora. Its high eccentricity (for comparison 36% higher than that of Pluto), though, means that at most oppositions other asteroids reach higher magnitudes.