In an exciting discovery, NASA’s X-ray telescopes, Chandra and IXPE, have provided us with amazing pictures of a cosmic ‘hand’ that disappeared about 1,500 years ago. These fascinating images, shared by NASA, show a spectacular celestial sight – a huge ‘hand’ with four clear ‘fingers’ dancing gracefully in the vast Milky Way, surrounded by bright purple clouds.
Neutron Stars and Pulsars Formation
NASA explains that when really big stars run out of fuel and collapse under their gravity, they become extremely dense objects called neutron stars. These neutron stars often have strong magnetic fields and can change into pulsars. It’s important to know that young pulsars can shoot out streams of stuff from their poles, along with a powerful wind, creating something called a ‘pulsar wind nebula’.
A Glimpse of PSR B1509-58
A remarkable star called PSR B1509-58 took the spotlight in this cosmic tale when NASA first spotted it using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Surprisingly, this mysterious celestial object looks just like a human hand and is officially known as a pulsar wind nebula, with a scientific name MSH 15-52. It’s located right at the base of the nebula’s ‘palm,’ and it’s a staggering 16,000 light-years away from Earth in the vast universe.
Watching the Cosmic ‘Hand’ in Action
NASA is eager to share its incredible celestial discovery with the world. They’ve posted a video of the cosmic ‘hand’ on their official YouTube channel called Chandra X-ray Observatory. The video is titled “Quick look: X-ray telescopes reveal the ‘bones’ of a ghostly cosmic hand.” It’s like a teaser for a fantastic cosmic show.
In the video’s description, the observatory is really excited. NASA’s Chandra and IXPE telescopes worked together to capture this amazing picture. MSH 15-52 looks like a cloud of energetic particles that surprisingly resemble a human hand. Astronomers are using these important X-ray data to figure out how much special celestial objects form”.
The cosmic ‘hand’ is so fascinating that it inspires us to dig into the universe’s secrets. This peek at the cosmic ‘hand’ is a reminder of how vital it is to keep exploring and studying to reveal the amazing mysteries of the universe.
