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
- 29 October 1918
- Named after
- John D. Rockefeller , (American business magnate )
- Alternative designations
- A918 UC · 1949 UK, 1961 AK · A913 UD, A916 KC · 1918 EO, 1913 UD · 1916 KC
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 106.24 yr (38,805 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2567 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.7366 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.9967 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.19 yr (1,895 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 178.00 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q157788
- Follows
- 903 Nealley
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +49.146
- Orbital period
- +1893.234579870705
Show 3 more facts
Article
904 Rockefellia (prov. designation: A918 UC or 1918 EO) is a dark and large background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, that measures approximately 59 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 29 October 1918, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (Ch) has a rotation period of 6.8 hours and is rather spherical in shape. It was named after American philanthropist and oil industrialist John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937).
Orbit and classification