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Credit & Copyright: Martin Rusterholz (CXIELO Observatory)
Explanation:
This helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with
wing-like appendages is popularly called Thor's Helmet.
Heroically sized even for a
Norse god,
Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across.
In fact, the helmet is actually more like
an interstellar bubble, blown as a fast
wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center sweeps
through a surrounding molecular cloud.
Known as a
Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an
extremely hot giant thought to be in a brief,
pre-supernova stage of evolution.
Cataloged as NGC 2359, the
nebula is located about
15,000 light-years away in the constellation
Canis
Major.
The sharp image,
made using broadband and narrowband filters, captures striking details of
the nebula's
filamentary structures.
It shows off a blue-green color from strong emission
due to oxygen atoms in the glowing gas.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: NGC 2359 - Wolf-Rayet star
Publications with words: NGC 2359 - Wolf-Rayet star
See also: