June 9, 2026
The universe is brighter with you in it. Happy birthday.
Birthday · June 9, 2026
A little universe, just for you
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Selected image source ↗ APOD published June 9, 2026. Credit: Josep Drudis, Christian Sasse. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Read the original APOD for the astronomer’s explanation and full image credits. Its text is preserved in the archive as published.
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Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in the heavens. Popularly called Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages. Heroically sized even for a Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the cosmic head-covering is more like an interstellar bubble, blown by a fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center. Known as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 is located about 15,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the Great Overdog. This sharp image is a combination of deep images taken in light emitted by hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue). The star in the center of Thor's Helmet is expected to explode in a spectacular supernova sometime within the next few thousand years. Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)
Image credit: Josep Drudis, Christian Sasse
Explore June 9 in other years · 31 APOD entries, 1996–2026
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