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
- Discovery date
- 9 February 1905
- Alternative designations
- 1905 QB
- Observation arc
- 111.15 yr (40,597 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.0333 AU (453.78 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7817 AU (416.14 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.9075 AU (434.96 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.96 yr (1,810.8 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 216.857 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 55.716 / day
- Inclination
- 8.3757°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 143.728°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q155551
- Follows
- Q155544
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +54.811
- Orbital period
- +1811.93599903273
Show 4 more facts
Article
558 Carmen is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. As with a number of asteroids discovered by Max Wolf, it is named after a female character in opera, in this case the title character of Bizet's Carmen. This is classified as an M-type asteroid that spans a girth of approximately 59 km. The near infrared spectrum of this object is described as featureless. Some evidence for iron-poor orthopyroxenes on the surface has been reported.
References