NGC2359 Thor's Helmet Nebula

Thor’s Helmet is an emission nebula with an ionized HII region in the constellation Canis Major. The name of this nebula stems from its striking resemblance to the helmet of the famed Norse God of thunder and lightning.

Thor’s Helmet is composed of cosmic dust and gas, which is revealed to have a blue-green appearance through astrophotography. NGC 2359 spans roughly 30 light-years across and appears as an interstellar bubble that has been inflated by a central Wolf-Rayet star.



This image was taken under light polluted skies of Singapore.

Individual channels were collected via dedicated astronomical camera and combined with special software to form a complete "true colour" RGB image.



Red: Hydrogen Alpha

Green: Oxygen III

Blue: Oxygen III

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Total Imaging Time: 8 hours over 4 nights

Camera: QHYCCD 183 (Mono)

Lens/Scope: William Optics Zenithstar 61

Mount: Explore Scientific iEXOS-100

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