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 , P. Götz
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 27 October 1903
- Pronunciation
- German: [ fʁanˈtsɪskaː ]
- Named after
- unknown ( Franziska )
- Alternative designations
- 1903 MV · A924 WH
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos
- Observation arc
- 112.81 yr (41,205 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.3354 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.6735 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.0044 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.21 yr (1,902 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 521 Brixia
- Follows
- Q155092
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +25.261
- Orbital period
- +1902.008988669406
Show 4 more facts
Article
520 Franziska, provisional designation 1903 MV, is an Eoan asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 October 1903, by astronomers Max Wolf and Paul Götz at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The origin of the asteroid's name is unknown.
Orbit and classification