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. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 30 March 1916
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- 1916 ZB · 1934 NA 1 , 1934 PV · 1935 SE, 1975 YP
- Minor planet category
- main-belt
- Observation arc
- 80.57 yr (29427 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2848 AU (491.40 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.9746 AU (444.99 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.1297 AU (468.20 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.54 yr (2022.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 284.54 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q157274
- Follows
- 819 Barnardiana
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +58.65
- Orbital period
- +2026.881831893159
Show 3 more facts
Article
820 Adriana, provisional designation 1916 ZB, is an exceptionally dark asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 59 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, on 30 March 1916.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,027 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.05 and is tilted by 6 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS, the asteroid's surface has an extremely low albedo of 0.02. The body's spectral type remains unknown, as does its rotation period.