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
- 23 July 1895
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ θ aɪ ə /
- Named after
- Theia
- Alternative designations
- 1895 BZ
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 123.54 years
- Aphelion
- 3.2145 AU (480.88 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.9592 AU (293.09 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.5861 AU (386.88 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.16 yr (1518.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 336.81 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 13.164 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Theia
- Followed by
- 406 Erna
- Follows
- 404 Arsinoë
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +108.894
- Orbital period
- +1517.391546196249
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
405 Thia is a very large main-belt asteroid. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. This object was discovered by Auguste Charlois on July 23, 1895, in Nice, and was named after Theia (sometimes written Thea or Thia), a Titaness in Greek mythology.
In 2002, the asteroid was detected by radar from the Arecibo Observatory at a distance of 1.31 AU. The resulting data yielded an effective diameter of 125 ± 16 km. NEOWISE data suggests the asteroid is 110 km in diameter.