May 26, 2026
You share your birthday with the light of distant galaxies that has been traveling for millions of years just to arrive here, now, alongside...
NGC 3660 and Burçin's Galaxy
Birthday · May 26, 2026
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APOD published May 26, 2026. Credit: Adam Block, El Sauce Obs.. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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.
Image credit: Adam Block, El Sauce Obs.