Nights at Melinda Heights

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Exposures: Ha 14×900, OIII 10×900

Telescope: Televue NP101 + .8 Reducer

Camera: QSI 683

Mount: AP900

Distance: 15,000 Light Years                           

Magnitude:  8                                                          

Size:  22’x14’ Arc-minutes                                   

Age: Not Known                                                     

NGC 2359, also known as Thor’s Helmet, is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. Named after the helmet of the Norse god of thunder, this nebula is more like an interstellar bubble caused by a Wolf-Rayet star in the nebula. A Wolf-Rayet star is a short lived supergiant  that emits a stellar wind that is powerful enough to sculpt odd shapes in the surrounding gas and dust. This star, HD56925, is thought to be in the last stages of evolution and about to go supernova. This object is similar in type and structure as NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula.

[Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes] [1001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die, Michael E. Bakich]

False Luminance created from Ha and OIII:

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