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 Obs.
- Discovery date
- 8 September 1907
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ æ ɡ n ɪ s / , German: [ ˈaːɡnɛs, ˈaŋnəs ]
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- 1907 ZX · 1952 FD 1
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · Flora
- Observation arc
- 109.38 yr (39,951 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.5055 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.9346 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.2200 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.31 yr (1,208 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 335.75 °
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q156088
- Follows
- Q156061
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +9.446
- Orbital period
- +1208.242923767798
Show 3 more facts
Article
641 Agnes, provisional designation 1907 ZX, is a stony Florian asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers (6 mi) in diameter.
It was discovered on 8 September 1907, by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The meaning of the asteroids's name is unknown.