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
- J. F. Hartmann
- Discovery site
- La Plata Obs.
- Discovery date
- 4 November 1921
- Named after
- Angelica Hartmann, (discoverer's wife)
- Alternative designations
- A921 VB · 1921 KT , 1977 PM 2
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Observation arc
- 91.66 yr (33,480 d)
- Aphelion
- 4.0444 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.2703 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1574 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.61 yr (2,049 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 162.59 °
- Mean motion
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q158342
- Follows
- Q158330
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +60.857
- Orbital period
- +2055.942991468917
Show 4 more facts
Article
965 Angelica (prov. designation: A921 VB or 1921 KT), is a large background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1921, by astronomer Johannes F. Hartmann at the La Plata Astronomical Observatory in Argentina. The dark X-type asteroid (Xc) with a low TJupiter has a rotation period of 26.8 hours and is likely spherical in shape. It was named after the discoverer's wife, Angelica Hartmann.
Orbit and classification