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
- H. Goldschmidt
- Discovery date
- 10 September 1858
- Pronunciation
- / ˌ æ l ɪ ɡ ˈ z æ n d r ə , - ˈ z ɑː n -/ AL -ig- ZA(H)N -drə
- Named after
- Alexander von Humboldt , (German explorer)
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Alexandrian
- Aphelion
- 485.483 million km (3.245 AU )
- Perihelion
- 326.043 million km (2.179 AU)
- Semi major axis
- 405.763 million km (2.712 AU)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 1,631.620 d (4.47 a )
- Mean anomaly
- 103.809°
- Inclination
- 11.804°
- Longitude of ascending node
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Alexander von Humboldt
- Followed by
- 55 Pandora
- Follows
- 53 Kalypso
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +160.12
- Orbital period
- +1631.816340331798
- Image
- 54Alexandra (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 5 more facts
Article
54 Alexandra is a carbonaceous asteroid from the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 155 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on 10 September 1858, and named after the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt; it was the first asteroid to be named after a male.
Description