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
- G. Neujmin
- Discovery site
- Simeiz Obs.
- Discovery date
- 27 October 1916
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ k eɪ ə /
- Named after
- Caia
- Alternative designations
- 1916 Σ 61 · 1973 WH, A908 EB · A919 GB, A921 RA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 99.63 yr (36,389 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.7294 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2611 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.9952 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.18 yr (1,893 days)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q158249
- Follows
- 951 Gaspra
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +88.692
- Orbital period
- +1890.244038339002
Show 3 more facts
- P6259
Article
952 Caia /ˈkeɪə/ is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 82 kilometers (51 miles) in diameter. It was discovered by Soviet–Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin at the Crimean Simeiz Observatory on 27 October 1916 and given the provisional designation 1916 Σ61. It was named after the heroine in the novel Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Orbit and classification