NGC 2359 is an emission nebula located 12,000 lightyears away in Canis Major. It's also known as Thor's Helmet, given its similarity in shape to the Norse god's famous headwear.
The nebula is produced by a massive, hot Wolf-Rayet star emitting a stream of charged particles known as a stellar wind that's expanding outwards to produce an interstellar bubble.
This bubble is interacting with molecular clouds nearby, causing the ionising of radiation that gives the nebula its glow.
NGC2359 Thor's Helmet by Mark Griffith, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Equipment: Celestron C11 Sct, Skywatcher NEQ6 pro mount,Atik 383L camera, motorised filter wheel and Astronomik filters.
The star associated with Thor's Helmet is catalogued as WR7 and is considered to be 280,000 times more bright than our Sun and 16 times more massive. It may well undergo a type of stellar explosion known as a supernova in the near future.
Below is a selection of images of Thor's Nebula captured by BBC Sky at Night Magazine readers and astrophotographers.
