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
- Paul Götz
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg
- Discovery date
- 8 January 1905
- Pronunciation
- Italian: [ peˈraːɡa ]
- Alternative designations
- 1905 PS
- Observation arc
- 115.51 yr (42190 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7391 AU (409.76 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.0095 AU (300.62 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.3743 AU (355.19 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.66 yr (1336.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 215.70 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 16 9.84 / day
- Inclination
- 2.9349°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q155521
- Follows
- 553 Kundry
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +95.87
- Orbital period
- +1337.031206644451
Show 4 more facts
Article
554 Peraga is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by German astronomer Paul Götz on January 8, 1905, from Heidelberg.
13-cm radar observations of this asteroid from the Arecibo Observatory between 1980 and 1985 were used to produce a diameter estimate of 101 km.