Featured Image: Thor’s Helmet

Thor's Helmet
Thor’s Helmet

Thor’s Helmet is an emision nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is approximately 3,670 parsecs (11.96 thousand light years) from Earth and is 30 light-years in size. The central star is an extremely hot star thought to be in a brief pre-supernova stage of evolution. It has interactions with a nearby large molecular cloud that are thought to have contributed to the complex shape and curved bow-shock structure of Thor’s Helmet. This image is comprised of over 1200 sub-images (10-second exposures) under Bortle 6 skies.