Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 June 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           NGC 2359: Thor's Helmet
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Martin Pugh

   Explanation: NGC 2359 is a helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like
   appendages popularly called Thor's Helmet. Heroically sized even for a
   [5]Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact,
   the helmet is more like [6]an interstellar bubble, blown as a fast wind
   from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center inflates a
   region within the surrounding molecular cloud. Known as a [7]Wolf-Rayet
   star, the central star is an extremely hot giant thought to be in a
   brief, pre-[8]supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 [9]is located
   about 15,000 light-years away in the constellation of the [10]Great
   Overdog. The [11]remarkably sharp image is a mixed cocktail of data
   from broadband and narrowband filters using three different telescopes.
   It captures natural looking stars and the details of [12]the nebula's
   filamentary structures. The predominant bluish hue is strong emission
   from doubly ionized [13]oxygen atoms in the glowing gas.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
              [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2006/ThorsHelmet.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.martinpughastrophotography.space/
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131214.html
   7. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/a-wolf-rayet-bubble-and-the-early-solar-system/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050910.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100319.html
  10. http://www.internal.org/view_poem.phtml?poemID=115
  11. https://www.martinpughastrophotography.space/thors-helmet
  12. http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-3881/118/2/948
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulium
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200611.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200612
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200613.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/