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
- Max Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg
- Discovery date
- 14 May 1917
- Pronunciation
- / æ m ˈ n ɛr ɪ s /
- Alternative designations
- 1917 BY
- Minor planet category
- Main belt , Amneris family
- Observation arc
- 108.93 yr (39786 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.4891 AU (372.36 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.9555 AU (292.54 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.2223 AU (332.45 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.31 yr (1210.0 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 340.333 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 17 51.036 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q157549
- Follows
- 870 Manto
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +8.011
- Orbital period
- +1210.399804109572
Show 3 more facts
Article
871 Amneris is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is the namesake of the Amneris family, a subgroup of the Flora family of Main Belt asteroids.
This asteroid was named after Amneris, a character in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.