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
- Joel Hastings Metcalf
- Discovery site
- Taunton, Massachusetts
- Discovery date
- 24 September 1906
- Pronunciation
- / v ə ˈ l ɪər i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1906 VL
- Observation arc
- 114.46 yr (41807 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3397 AU (499.61 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.6243 AU (392.59 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.9820 AU (446.10 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.15 yr (1880.9 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 71.676 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 29.04 / day
- Inclination
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 612 Veronika
- Follows
- Q155859
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +57.468
- Orbital period
- +1877.571075429669
Show 4 more facts
- P65
- Taunton
- P720
Article
611 Valeria is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by American astronomer Joel Hastings Metcalf on September 24, 1906, from Taunton, Massachusetts. The name may have been inspired by the asteroid's provisional designation 1906 VL.
Photometric observations of this asteroid at the Organ Mesa Observatory in Las Cruces, New Mexico, during 2012 gave a light curve with a period of 6.977 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.01 in magnitude. This result is consistent with a previous study from 2008.