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
- C. le Morvan
- Discovery site
- Paris
- Discovery date
- 19 December 1913
- Alternative designations
- 1913 TW
- Observation arc
- 107.33 yr (39203 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.5625 AU (532.94 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.5318 AU (378.75 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.0472 AU (455.85 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.32 yr (1942.9 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 240.634 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 7.044 / day
- Inclination
- 5.5589°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 250.253°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Armorica
- Followed by
- 775 Lumière
- Follows
- 773 Irmintraud
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +50.214
- Orbital period
- +1946.92252464783
Show 3 more facts
- P65
Article
774 Armor is a minor planet (specifically an asteroid) orbiting in the main belt. It was discovered on 13 December 1913, in Paris by French astronomer Charles le Morvan and was named after the Celtic region of Armorica. The asteroid is orbiting at a distance of 3.05 AU with a period of 5.32 yr and an eccentricity of 0.169. The orbital plane is inclined by an angle of 5.56° to the plane of the ecliptic.
In the SMASS-I taxonomy, this is classified as an S-type asteroid. It spans a girth of approximately 50 km. The rotation of this asteroid is commensurate with the length of an Earth day, requiring measurements from more than one latitude for full coverage. Photometric observations from the US and Australia in 2012 provided an estimated rotation period of 25.107±0.005 h with a brightness variation of 0.16±0.02 in magnitude. This is consistent with the results of an earlier study in 2006.