NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet

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NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet

This ring-shaped nebulosity results from the interaction between the stellar wind of a central Wolf-Rayet star and the interstellar matter. The wind compresses the interstellar matter and produces a bubble of gas around the star.

This bubble could be compared to the piles of snow that form in front of a snow plough, and which move and grow as the plough advances. The bubble expands around the Wolf-Rayet star and as it ploughs through the interstellar medium, it enriches itself with more gas and dust. The bubble's mass is estimated to be about twenty times the mass of the Sun. The emission from the nebula comes from the interaction between the ultraviolet photons emitted by the star and the gas in the bubble.

Date:  01-26-2004

Telescope: RC14.5 (.75) 2475 mm       Camera:ST8XE AO Guided

Exposure Time: LRGB 210min ;35min;35min;35min; 2x2bin

Processing: Maxim,reduced, DDP, Adobe combined