Stacks Image 164

NGC 2359 Thor's Helmet

About this object

NGC 2359, also known as Thor's Helmet is a fairly bright emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is thought to be approx 15,000 light years distant. Near the center of the greenish/ blue bubble of gas is a extremely hot star. This star is cataloged as a Wolf Rayet star. Its thought that the complex shape of the nebula is caused by the stellar winds from this star. The above image is a false color image taken through narrow band filters. Red was mapped to SII, Green to Ha, and Blue to OIII.
Image Details

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