NGC 2359
Sign in to saveAlso known as Thor's Helmet, Nebula Thor Helmet
HII region in the constellation Canis Major
Key facts
- Right ascension
- 07 18 30
- Declination
- −13 ° 13.8 ′ ″
- Distance
- 11,960 ly
- Constellation
- Canis Major
- Notable features
- HII (ionized) region
- Designations
- GUM 4, LBN 227.66-00.09, SH 2-298, GRS 227.80 -00.20, LBN 1041, RCW 5
via Wikipedia infobox
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Encyclopedic overview
NGC 2359 (also known as Thor's Helmet) is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is approximately 3,670 parsecs (11.96 thousand light years) away and 30 light-years in size. The central star is the Wolf-Rayet star WR7, an extremely hot star thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. It is similar in nature to the Bubble Nebula, but interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud are thought to have contributed to the more complex shape and curved bow-shock structure of Thor's Helmet.
It is also catalogued as Sharpless 2-298 and Gum 4.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “NGC 2359” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.