After more than 2 months of cloudy skies, I'm back. Unfortunately the clouds are still there, but in my free time I discovered an interesting project. While I was browsing Astrobin, I came across the site of
@blackrig . He is a passionate astronomer who has built his own telescope and makes the collected images freely available. And not only that. He also provides photometric data and much more. It's definitely worth a visit! Anyone interested in building a telescope or their own observatory is also in the right place here.
@blackrig has a very detailed blog about how the MOANA project came to life. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank
@blackrig for his efforts and hope that we can continue to use this great resource for a long time to come. Please have a look for yourself on his website. The link can be found below in the description.
The color scheme is in the HOO palette. The RGB images are only used for the stars.
About the object:NGC 2359, commonly known as Thor's Helmet, is an intriguing and visually striking nebula in the constellation Canis Major. This nebula is an emission nebula, which means it glows due to the ionization of its gases by nearby high-energy sources, notably, a central star that is a Wolf-Rayet star. Wolf-Rayet stars are massive, evolved stars nearing the end of their life cycles, known for their strong winds and intense radiation.The distinctive shape of NGC 2359, resembling a mythical helmet, is primarily due to the interaction between the stellar winds from the central star and the surrounding interstellar medium. These winds, traveling at millions of kilometers per hour, sculpt the nebula into its unique form. The helmet-like structure is actually a bubble being blown into space by the central star, which is losing its outer layers rapidly as it evolves.Thor's Helmet spans approximately 30 light-years across, a testament to the immense energies involved in its formation. It's situated about 15,000 light-years away from Earth, making it a relatively distant object, yet it is studied extensively due to its unique characteristics and the insights it offers into the late stages of stellar evolution.Here is the link to
@blackrig's Website:
https://erellaz.com/CS!
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