I never cease to be amazed at the imagination shown by astronomers over the years in coming up with names to attach to celestial nebulae. Here is a look from last week at Thor’s Helmet, a hat shaped emission nebula with wing-like appendages, more formally known as NGC 2359.
Anyway, NGC 2359 is about 15 thousand light years away from us and about 30 light years across, heroic dimensions appropriate to a Norse god. The nebula is an interstellar bubble, blown by a fast stellar wind of charged particles from the extremely hot bright massive star near the bubble’s center. That central star is expected to explode in a spectacular supernova sometime within the next few thousand years. Notice the orangish color of the bow shock at the left and right edges.
Since the images in this blog are relatively large and contain a lot of detail, if you are using a phone or a small tablet, you might want to consider returning sometime when you can use a computer with its larger screen.