Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Canis Major (CMa)  ·  Contains:  IC 468  ·  NGC 2359
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Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298, Steven Bellavia
Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298
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Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298

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Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298, Steven Bellavia
Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298
Powered byPixInsight

Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298

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Description

NGC 2359 (also known as Thor's Helmet, Sharpless 2-298 and Gum 4) is an emission nebula. It is a wind blown bubble around the Wolf-Rayet star WR7, an extremely hot star thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. Interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud are thought to have contributed to the more complex shape and curved fine filaments, that contain interstellar material that has been swept up by the fast wind streaming away from the central star.

The nebula contains several hundred solar masses of ionised material, plus several thousand more of unionised gas. It is largely interstellar material swept up by winds from the central star, although some material does appear to be enriched with the products of fusion and is likely to come directly from the star. The expansion rate of different portions of the nebula varies from 10 km/s to at least 30 km/s, leading to age estimates of 78,500 - 236,000 years. The nebula has been studied at radio and x-ray wavelengths, but it is still unclear whether it was produced at the class O main sequence stage of development, as a red supergiant, luminous blue variable, or mainly as a Wolf-Rayet star.

The nebula is approximately 12,000 light years away in the constellation Canis Major, and 30 light-years in size.

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Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359, SH2-298, Steven Bellavia

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Imaged with APT

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Nebulae