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
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 22 October 1900
- Named after
- Signy , Norse mythology
- Alternative designations
- 1900 FM
- Minor planet category
- main belt · ( middle ) , background
- Observation arc
- 116.70 yr (42,624 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.1716 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.0727 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.6222 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.25 yr (1,551 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 182.92 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 55.56 / day
Article
459 Signe, provisional designation 1900 FM, is a stony asteroid from the background population of the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 26 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 22 October 1900. The asteroid was presumably named after Signy, a character of the Scandinavian Völsunga saga and Norse mythology. Signy is the daughter of Völsung and sister of Sigmund.
References