SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
dfastro
Location of Photo:
Perth, Western Australia1
Date/Time of photo:
07/01/2024
Equipment:
Sky-Watcher 250/1200 Black Diamond Reflector
Description:
Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359, Sharpless 2-298, Gum-4) is an emission nebula located nearly 12,000 light years away in Canis Major. The central star, WR7, is a Wolf-Rayet star - a rare set of stars that have fused most of their hydrogen and contain a large amount of heavy elements, giving them a much higher surface temperature than most other stars (20,000 - 210,000K). WR7 is in a pre-supernova stage, throwing off huge amounts of gases pushed by its strong stellar winds, giving the bubble like appearance of the nebula. This image was taken over two nights from Bortle 6 skies in Perth, Western Australia.
