Thor’s Helmet, or by it’s formal categorisation NGC2359, is located in the constellation Canis Major (The Great Dog) and is an emission nebula. The energy powering the emissions is sourced from a central, extremely hot, Wolf Rayet star WR7. WR7 is believed to be in a pre-supernova stage.

The nebula has a central bubble shape which is formed by the energy pressure from WR7, however as it is only several hundred solar masses of ionised gas out of several thousand solar masses of gas in the region, the interactions with the dark molecular cloud it is enclosed within has formed the additional complex filament structures.

Right Ascension : 07h 18′ 30″
Declination : -13d 13.8′
Constellation : Canis Major
Apparent Magnitude: +11.45
Distance : 11,960 ly
Radius : 15 ly
Apparent Size : 8′ x 8′