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
- 28 November 1892
- Pronunciation
- German: [ ˈmaɪ ]
- Named after
- Probably Karl May
- Alternative designations
- 1892 R
- Minor planet category
Article
348 May is a large Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 28 November 1892 in Nice, and was named for the German author Karl May. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.97 AU with a period of 5.12 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.067. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 9.7° to the plane of the ecliptic. During its orbit, this asteroid has made close approaches to the dwarf planet Ceres. For example, in September 1984 the two were separated by 6.3 Gm (0.042 AU).
Analysis of the asteroid light curve generated from photometric data collected during 2007 provided a rotation period of 7.385±0.004 h with a brightness variation of 0.16±0.03 in magnitude. This is consistent with an estimate from a 2006 study. It is classified as a G-type asteroid and spans a diameter of approximately 83 km.