This object, also known as Sharpless 2-298 and Gum 4, is an emission nebula located 12,000 light years away in the constellation of Canis Major at a declination of -13 degrees. The full extent of the nebula spans about 25 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a width of 90 light years.
This is one of my favorite deep sky objects. It has many nicknames, including Thor’s Helmet, Flying Eye, and Duck Head Nebula. The nicknames should have stopped at Thor’s Helmet.
The central star here is the Wolf-Rayet star WR7, the bright star seen near the center of the bubble. These are massive stars which have high temperatures and which are highly luminous. They also have a high rate of mass loss as they expel outer layers towards the end of their lives. These stars result in some of the prettiest nebulae in the universe. My Astrobin Collection of Wolf-Rayet nebulae can be seen
here.
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Reminder – This object and 3100 more are included in the Imm Deep Sky Compendium, a free planning resource to help astrophotographers find interesting targets in their night sky. Foreign language translations in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, and Chinese are now available at the link above.
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