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 November 1897
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ l oʊ t ɪ s /
- Alternative designations
- 1897 DL
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Lotidian / l oʊ ˈ t ɪ d i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 114.49 yr (41818 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.9274 AU (437.93 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.2872 AU (342.16 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.6073 AU (390.05 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.21 yr (1537.7 d )
- Average orbital speed
- 18.44 km/s
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Lotis
- Followed by
- 430 Hybris
- Follows
- Q153327
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +69.62
- Orbital period
- +1536.746699743641
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
429 Lotis is a large Main belt asteroid. It is classified as a probable C-type asteroid and is likely composed of primitive carbonaceous materials. This object was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 23 November 1897 in Nice.
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 70 ± 10 km.