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
- A. Kopff
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 3 March 1906
- Pronunciation
- / k r oʊ ˈ eɪ ʃ ( i ) ə /
- Named after
- Croatia , (part of Austria-Hungary )
- Alternative designations
- 1906 TM · 1936 WM, 1947 RA · 1953 RF 1 , 1953 VR 1 · 1953 VU, A912 HH
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Croatia
- Observation arc
- 111.34 yr (40,666 d )
- Aphelion
- 3.2583 AU
- Perihelion
- 3.0205 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1394 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.56 yr (2,032 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Croatia
- Followed by
- 590 Tomyris
- Follows
- 588 Achilles
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +93.617
- Orbital period
- +2025.874196411611
Show 4 more facts
- P61
- August Kopff
- P65
Article
589 Croatia, provisional designation 1906 TM, is a dark asteroid and parent body of the Croatia family, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 88 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered in 1906, by astronomer August Kopff at Heidelberg Observatory, and later named for the independent country of Croatia, then part of Austria-Hungary.
Discovery