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
- G. Neujmin
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 29 June 1914
- Named after
- Historic city of Ani
- Alternative designations
- A914 MB · 1949 WH, 1964 PO · 1975 XM, 1914 UV
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Meliboea · Bg
- Observation arc
- 104.08 yr (38,017 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.7242 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.5197 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1219 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.52 yr (2,015 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 33.057 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Ani
- Followed by
- Q112338
- Follows
- 790 Pretoria
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +116.865
- Orbital period
- +2016.493472609528
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
791 Ani (prov. designation: A914 MB or 1914 UV) is a very large asteroid of the Meliboea family, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 29 June 1914, by Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The dark carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 11.2 hours and measures approximately 65.7 × 103.5 kilometers, with a mean diameter of 100 km (62 mi). It was named after the historic Armenian city of Ani.
Orbit and classification