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
- Johann Palisa
- Discovery site
- Vienna
- Discovery date
- 27 March 1922
- Pronunciation
- / p ər s ɛ v ə ˈ r æ n ʃ i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1922 LT
- Observation arc
- 94.00 yr (34333 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.9205 AU (436.90 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7459 AU (410.78 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.8332 AU (423.84 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.77 yr (1741.8 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 5.31402 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 24.048 / day
- Inclination
- 2.5597°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q158407
- Follows
- Q158403
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +22.169
- Orbital period
- +1743.022767257794
Show 4 more facts
- P720
Article
975 Perseverantia /pərsɛvəˈrænʃiə/ is a minor planet orbiting the Sun that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 27 March 1922.
This is a member of the dynamic Koronis family of asteroids that most likely formed as the result of a collisional breakup of a parent body. The semi-major axis of the orbit of 975 Perseverantia lies just outside the 5/2 Kirkwood gap, located at 2.824 AU.