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NGC 2359, THORS HELMET on 2025-12-31 2026-01-01,2,3,4
NGC 2359, also known as Thor's Helmet and Sh2-298, is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is about 12,000 light years away and about 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. This photo was taken in Kyle, Texas through a 6-inch f/4 Telescope, on a ZWO AM5 mount, with a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera plus a dual-band Ha-O III filter. The processing was done in PixInsight. The total image acquisition time is: 9 hours 45 minutes 00 Seconds.