NGC 2359 - better known as Thor's Helmet - is an emission nebula located about 12,000 light-years away in the constellation of Canis Major. Also known as Sh2-198 and Gum 4, NGC 2359 is a “bubble” nebula measuring approximately 30 light-years across in size. It has a very complex structure and is powered by its central star, WR7, a Wolf-Rayet star, an extremely hot star that is thought to be in the pre-supernova stage.
This is my first image of 2022 and results from only 2.5 hours of Narrowband data collected on March 9 and March 29, 2022.
This image was shot with my Astro-Physics 130mm F/8.35 Telescope Platform with the IOptron CEM60 and the ASI2600MM-Pro Camera with Astronomiks 6mm narrowband fitters.
This spring's weather has been problematic, and this target is located very low in the sky between trees on my property, which gives me only about 1.5 hours of access on any given night. I only had two nights clear, allowing the capture of photons, and now it is beyond my reach, so I cannot add to it this year.
So with a paltry 2.5 hours of data - what could be done to pull an image out of the noise?
While far from a perfect image, I was a little surprised that it came out as well as it did, given the low integration time!
The story of the image and complete processing details can be seen on my website at:
https://cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/ngc2359-thors-helmetThanks for looking, and let me know if you have any questions!
CS,
Pat
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