NGC 2359
Last updated
NGC 2359 is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major, also known as Thor's Helmet. It is notable for its complex bubble shape and curved bow-shock structure, which are thought to result from interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud. The nebula is approximately 3,670 parsecs (11.96 thousand light years) away and spans about 30 light-years in size.
Background
The nebula has an overall bubble shape with complex filamentary structures. It contains several hundred solar masses of ionised material, plus several thousand more of unionised gas. Most of this material is interstellar gas swept up by winds from the central star, though some material appears enriched with fusion products and likely comes directly from the star. The expansion rate of different portions of the nebula varies from 10 km/s to at least 30 km/s, leading to age estimates between 78,500 and 236,000 years.
The central star is WR7, a Wolf-Rayet star that is extremely hot and thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. The nebula is similar in nature to the Bubble Nebula, but interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud are thought to have contributed to its more complex shape and curved bow-shock structure. It has been studied at radio and x-ray wavelengths, but it remains unclear whether the nebula was produced during the class O main sequence stage, as a red supergiant, luminous blue variable, or mainly as a Wolf-Rayet star.
NGC 2361 is a bright knot of nebulosity on one edge of the central ring of NGC 2359.
More in NGC Objects
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: NGC 2359 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced