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
- W. Baade
- Discovery site
- Bergedorf Obs.
- Discovery date
- 10 March 1920
- Pronunciation
- / w ɛ s t ˈ f eɪ l i ə /
- Named after
- Westphalia , (German region)
- Alternative designations
- A920 EE · 1920 GS, A916 DD · 1916 DD
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( inner ) , background · slow
- Observation arc
- 99.58 yr (36,370 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7792 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.0828 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.4310 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.79 yr (1,384 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Westphalia
- Followed by
- Q158074
- Follows
- Q158061
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +34.922
- Orbital period
- +1384.826227030479
Show 4 more facts
- P61
- Walter Baade
- P65
Article
930 Westphalia (prov. designation: A920 EE or 1920 GS) is a very dark background asteroid and a slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, that measures approximately 36 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 10 March 1920, by German astronomer Walter Baade at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg. The carbonaceous C-type asteroid (Ch) has an exceptionally long rotation period of 100.7 hours and is likely spherical in shape. It was named after Westphalia, a region in northwestern Germany.
Orbit and classification