Happy Halloween!
Ghost in the Hand
Astronomers have recently made a chilling discovery in outer space – a ghostly skeleton hand floating approximately 16,000 light-years away from Earth.
Intriguing and spooky, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) captured an eerie image revealing a pulsar wind nebula named MSH 15-52, which forms the shape of a ghostly hand with finger-like protrusions made of energetic particles.
These pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars formed from collapsed supergiant stars. They emit powerful magnetic fields that expel highly energized particles, resulting in the creation of pulsar wind nebulas.
In the case of MSH 15-52, these expelled particles took the form of a bone-like hand, giving rise to a haunting Halloween specter.
“The charged particles that generate the X-rays follow the path of the magnetic field, giving the nebula its overall shape, similar to how bones shape a human hand,” explained Roger Romani, lead author of a recently published paper in the Astrophysical Journal, in a statement.
Spooky Fingers
NASA’s IXPE dedicated a remarkable 17 days to observe the nebula, marking the longest observation period for a single object since its launch in 2021.
“We are most familiar with X-rays as a diagnostic tool for human health,” said Josephine Wong, a co-author and physics PhD student at Stanford University. “However, in this case, X-rays reveal hidden information that would otherwise remain unseen.”
This observation provides new insights into the interaction between the magnetic fields of pulsar wind nebulas and their surrounding environment. It demonstrates that these magnetic fields initially receive a significant boost at the “wrist” of the hand-shaped nebula, before gradually dispersing into more uniform regions.
“We have uncovered the history of highly energetic matter and antimatter particles around the pulsar,” said Niccolò Di Lalla, a co-author and Stanford postdoctoral research fellow. “This has further deepened our understanding of how pulsars serve as particle accelerators.”
More on nebulas: James Webb Spots Numerous Pairs of Planets, Hanging Out With No Stars
