Q158353

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

24 November 1921

Pronunciation

/ p ɪ ˈ tj uː n i ə /

Named after

Petunia , (genus of flowers)

Alternative designations

A921 WJ · 1935 QK 1 , 1948 KC · 1921 KW

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Itha

Observation arc

98.19 yr (35,865 d)

Aphelion

3.2572 AU

Perihelion

2.4741 AU

Semi major axis

2.8657 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.85 yr (1,772 d)

Mean anomaly

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q158366

Follows

Q158350

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+24.422

Orbital period

+1774.987769575621

Image

000968-asteroid shape model (968) Petunia.png