NGC2359 – Thor's Helmet Nebula
NGC2359, known as Thor's Helmet Nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major, about 12,000 light-years away. It is a stellar-wind bubble with an angular size of about 30 arcminutes including its long appendages, and a visual magnitude of +11.5. Its structure results from outer layers of gas expelled and shaped at high speed by the intense winds of a massive Wolf-Rayet star at an evolutionary stage preceding its explosion as a supernova.
General information
- Constellation
- Canis Major
- Category
- Nebulae
- Date
- 24 February 2026
Capture
- Total time
- 11h 27min
- Subframes
- 300s (Ha: 50x, OIII: 79x) bin1
- Gain / Offset
- 125 / 30
- Calibration
- 30 flat frames, 30 dark-flat frames and 40 library dark frames, without bias frames
Equipment
- Telescope
- TS102 f/5.6
- Camera
- ASI294MM at -10ºC
- Filters
- Ha and OIII Astronomik, 6 nm
- Mount
- Sky Watcher Wave 150i
- Guiding
- PHD2, Guide scope 60mm/f4 + ASI220MM + PegasusAstro UCH + PPBMicro
- Focuser
- ZWO EAF
- Filter wheel
- ZWO EFW 7pos
Processing and environment
- Processing
- Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.9.3
- Acquisition
- NINA
- Location
- l'Ampolla
- Sky
- Bortle 4