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
- 29 November 1921
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ p r ɪ m j ʊ l ə /
- Named after
- Primula , (genus of flowers)
- Alternative designations
- A921 WK · 1929 RN, 1966 TG · 1921 LB
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Observation arc
- 98.11 yr (35,834 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2552 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.8644 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.5598 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.10 yr (1,496 d)
- Mean anomaly
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q112402
- Follows
- Q158366
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +9.204
- Orbital period
- +1494.680021158445
Show 4 more facts
Article
970 Primula (prov. designation: A921 WK or 1921 LB) is a stony background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9.2 kilometers (5.7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 29 November 1921, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The S-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 2.8 hours. It was named after the genus of flowering plants, Primula, which are also known as "primroses".
Orbit and classification