RA: 18h 18m 29s Dec: -13° 38' 59 Mag: 18.9 , Size: ~30 ly, Distance: ~15,000 ly
RA: 18h 18m 29s Dec: -13° 38' 59 Mag: 18.9 , Size: ~30 ly, Distance: ~15,000 ly
NGC 2359, commonly called Thor's Helmet, is a diffused nebula in the constallation Canis Major. The unique shape is due to the strong interstellar winds caused by rapid mass loss from the Wolf-Rayet star near its center interacting with the surrounding molecular cloud. The Wolf-Rayet is thought to be in a pre-supernova stage.
| Location & Date | Dragon Rock Observatory (DRO), Sacramento Mountains Astronomy Park, New Mexico - Dec. 2011 to Feb. 2012 |
| Telescope |
A&M 360mm R/C F/8, Paramount ME, Prime Focus,
Image scale 0.64 arcsec/pixel |
| Camera |
FLI IMG-6303 w/CFW7 Custom Scientific HaOII RGB Filters CCD temp -25°C |
| Exposure Times | (Ha) 16x30m,(OIII) 7x30m, (R)11x15m, (G) 8x15m, (B) 8x15m Bin 1x1 |
| Other Information |
Image planning - CCD Navigator Image acquisition/focus/guiding/dither - CCD Commander CCDSoft/TheSky6 |
| Image Processing |
* Images Plus- Calibration, Normalize, Alignment, Sigma Avg Combine, RGB combine, Deconvolution, DDP * Adobe CS4 - Ha OII+RGB combine, Levels, Curves, Sharpening, Noise reduction, JPEG conversion |
