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
- F. Kaiser
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 24 January 1914
- Named after
- Johannes Gutenberg , (German inventor)
- Alternative designations
- A914 BF · 1926 EF, A924 YB · 1914 TZ
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) background
- Observation arc
- 105.60 yr (38,570 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.5831 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.8745 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.2288 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.80 yr (2,119 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 79.152 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Johannes Gutenberg
- Followed by
- 778 Theobalda
- Follows
- 776 Berbericia
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +71.749
- Orbital period
- +2107.941613695494
Show 3 more facts
Article
777 Gutemberga (prov. designation: A914 BF or 1914 TZ) is a dark and large background asteroid, approximately 66 kilometers (41 miles) in diameter, from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Franz Kaiser at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 24 January 1914. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (Cb) has a rotation period of 12.8 hours. It was named after Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1468), who introduced the printing press to Europe and started the Printing Revolution.
Orbit and classification