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
- 16 February 1920
- Pronunciation
- / r æ t ɪ s ˈ b oʊ n ə /
- Named after
- Regensburg , (German city)
- Alternative designations
- A920 DB · 1920 GO, 1958 VD · 1958 XQ
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 99.57 yr (36,368 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.5095 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.9476 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.2285 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.80 yr (2,119 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 928 Hildrun
- Follows
- Q158046
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- +75.892
- Orbital period
- +2107.983913472358
Show 4 more facts
Article
927 Ratisbona is a large and dark background asteroid, approximately 76 kilometers (47 miles) in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 16 February 1920, by astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (CB) has a rotation period of 12.99 hours and is rather spherical in shape. It was named after the Bavarian city of Regensburg.
Orbit and classification