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 spans about 30 light-years across. In fact, the helmet is more like an interstellar bubble, blown as a fast wind -- from the bright star near the center of the bubble's blue-hued region -- sweeps through a surrounding molecular cloud. This star, a Wolf-Rayet star, is a massive and extremely hot giant star thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. Cataloged as NGC 2359, the emission nebula is located about 12,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major). The sharp image, made using broadband and narrowband filters, captures striking details of the nebula's filamentary gas and dust structures. The blue color originates from strong emission from oxygen atoms in the nebula.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: NGC 2359 - Wolf-Rayet star - zvezdy Vol'fa-Raie - shlem Tora Publikacii so slovami: NGC 2359 - Wolf-Rayet star - zvezdy Vol'fa-Raie - shlem Tora
Sm. takzhe: Sharpless 308: tumannost' Golova Del'fina Kol'cevaya tumannost' vokrug WR 134 Shlem Tora Kol'cevaya tumannost' WR 134 Sharpless 2-308: tumannost' Del'fin Zvezda Vol'fa-Raie WR 124 Sformirovannaya zvezdnym vetrom tumannost' RCW 58 Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>