Thor's Helmet
Thor's Helmet, also known as NGC 2359, is an emission nebula located approximately 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. Spanning about 30 light-years, this helmet-shaped cosmic cloud is formed by the powerful stellar winds from a central Wolf-Rayet star, which sculpt the surrounding molecular cloud into a bubble-like structure.
Source: apod.nasa.gov
APODs including "Thor's Helmet"
NGC 2359: Thor's Helmet
15/02/2014
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 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.