Q151167

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. Charlois

Discovery site

Nice Obs.

Discovery date

22 March 1892

Pronunciation

/ k ə ˈ l ʌ m b i ə /

Named after

Christopher Columbus , (Italian explorer)

Alternative designations

1934 JN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

124.62 yr (45,519 days)

Aphelion

2.9496 AU

Perihelion

2.6066 AU

Semi major axis

2.7781 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.63 yr (1,691 days)

Mean anomaly

255.97 °

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Christopher Columbus

Followed by

328 Gudrun

Follows

326 Tamara

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+30.291

Orbital period

+1688.80292019429