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
- Pronunciation
- / æ l ə ˈ m æ n i ə /
- Named after
- Alemannia , ( student fraternity )
- Alternative designations
- 1896 CV
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Observation arc
- 111.94 yr (40,886 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.9024 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2829 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.5927 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.17 yr (1,525 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 327.11 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 9.96 / day
- Inclination
- 6.8178°
- Longitude of ascending node
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 419 Aurelia
- Follows
- 417 Suevia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +40.33
- Orbital period
- +1525.527661639106
Show 4 more facts
Article
418 Alemannia, provisional designation 1896 CV, is a metallic background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany on 7 September 1896 and named for the student fraternity Alemannia in Heidelberg.
Orbit and classification