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
- Pronunciation
- German: [ ˈzaski.aː ]
- Named after
- Saskia van Uylenburgh , (wife of Rembrandt)
- Alternative designations
- 1900 FP · 1935 CT, A917 XE · A924 DB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis
- Observation arc
- 117.58 yr (42,946 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.5621 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6834 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1227 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.52 yr (2,016 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Saskia van Uylenburgh
- Followed by
- Q154546
- Follows
- Q154535
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +43.603
- Orbital period
- +2010.960768698693
Show 4 more facts
- P61
- Max Wolf
- P65
Article
461 Saskia, provisional designation 1900 FP, is a Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 44 kilometers (27 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 22 October 1900, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The X-type asteroid has a rotation period of 7.3 hours. It was named after Rembrandt's wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh.
Orbit and classification