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 date
- 6 April 1905
- Pronunciation
- German: [ zuːlaɪkaː ]
- Alternative designations
- 1905 QK
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 108.45 yr (39611 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3510 AU (501.30 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.08094 AU (311.304 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.71595 AU (406.300 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.48 yr (1634.9 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 104.420 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 12.72 / day
- Inclination
- 10.229°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q155588
- Follows
- Q155579
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +53.29
- Orbital period
- +1631.050692501493
Show 4 more facts
Article
563 Suleika is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. Previously designated as 1905 QK, it was discovered by German astronomer Paul Götz on 6 April 1905 from Heidelberg, Germany.
The planet was named after a female character in Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra.