Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Canis Major (CMa)  ·  Contains:  HD56594  ·  HD56595  ·  HD56771  ·  HD57008  ·  HD57027  ·  HD57057  ·  HD57083  ·  IC 468  ·  LBN 1040  ·  LBN 1041  ·  NGC 2359  ·  Sh2-298
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Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359), Jeff Ridder
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Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359), Jeff Ridder
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Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359)

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Description

NGC 2359 is commonly known as Thor's Helmet, the favored headgear of Norse gods. This version of Thor's Helmet is an emission nebula located in Canis Major and spans 30 light-years across -- 10 times larger than our entire solar system. It is about 12,000 light-years away from Earth, so pack some snacks if you plan to head there. At its core is WR7, an extremely hot Wolf-Rayet star that is thousands of times brighter than our sun and 16 times more massive. It is believed to be in a pre-supernova stage. Even Ragnar Lothbrok can't stop that one.

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Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359), Jeff Ridder