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Astronomy Picture of the Day
Thor's Helmet from CFHT
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#98574
by
[z]Barbara Harris
@
31.01.2007 00:00
- nach oben -
Thor's Helmet from CFHT
Explanation: NGC 2359 is
a striking emission nebula
with an impressive popular name -
Thor's
Helmet
Sure, its suggestive winged appearance might lead some to refer to it as the "
duck
nebula", but if you were a nebula which name would you choose? By any name
NGC 2359
is a bubble-like nebula some 30 light-years across, blown by energetic winds from an extremely
hot star
seen near the center and classified as a
Wolf-Rayet star
.
Wolf-Rayet stars
are rare massive blue giants which develop
stellar winds
with speeds of millions of kilometers per hour.
Interactions with
a nearby large
molecular cloud
are thought to have contributed to this nebula's more complex shape and curved
bow-shock
structures.
NGC 2359 is about 15,000 light-years distant toward
the constellation
Canis Major
.
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