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
- 19 September 1905
- Pronunciation
- German: [ ˈʁeːɡɪnhɪlt ]
- Alternative designations
- 1905 RD
- Observation arc
- 109.81 yr (40109 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7924 AU (417.74 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.7120 AU (256.11 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.2522 AU (336.92 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.38 yr (1234.6 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 249.806 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 17 29.76 / day
- Inclination
- 5.6840°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q155637
- Follows
- Q155627
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +8.456
- Orbital period
- +1234.773639866985
Show 4 more facts
Article
574 Reginhild is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf on September 19, 1905. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation 1905 RD.
Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico during 2010 gave a light curve with a period of 14.339 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.17 ± 0.02 in magnitude. The light curve shows three uneven minimums and maximums per rotation cycle.