Thor's Helmet is a complex nebula illuminated by a bright rare Wolf-Rayet type star located about 15,000 light years from Earth.  High-velocity stellar winds from this energetic star compress, excite, and illuminate surrounding gas and dust to create a bubble of illumination, similar to the process seen in the Bubble Nebula. 

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  January 11, 2010  - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Calm, 16F.

• Sky Conditions:  Clear with average transparency. 

• Optics:  TeleVue NP101is Refractor with 0.8x TeleVue Reducer = 432mm @ f4.3

• Filter:  Astronomic  EOS clip-in CLS-CCD (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  Losmandy G-11 equatorial with Gemini V4

• Guiding:  Orion Solitaire w/TeleVue TV60is

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  67 min (5 x 8 min, 3 x 9min) @ ISO 800 RAW

• Calibration Frames:  No dark frame subtraction (16F)

• Processing:  Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, NIK, Noel Carboni Astronomy Tools

• Comments:  This  is a target  probably better suited to a larger aperture scope in order to bring out the fine filament detail.  Image is a 100% crop from original capture.