Q157504

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

25 February 1917

Named after

Fatme, a character in the opera Abu Hassan , ( Carl Maria von Weber )

Alternative designations

A917 DG · 1950 DF 1 , 1917 BQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

102.93 yr (37,596 d)

Aphelion

3.2871 AU

Perihelion

2.9606 AU

Semi major axis

3.1238 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.52 yr (2,017 d)

Mean anomaly

34.544 °

Mean motion

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

867 Kovacia

Follows

Q157502

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+78.061

Orbital period

+2016.242884483926