NASA has recently unveiled stunning telescopic images that show a ghostly, four-fingered hand reaching out from the Milky Way. The eerie celestial formation appears to be composed of purple hued tendrils, swirling around the galaxy. These spectacular images were released timely, just as Halloween is around the corner.
The colossal spectral hand, known as the MSH 15-52, is believed to be the remnants of a giant star. This star reportedly collapsed on itself over 15 centuries ago after exhausting its nuclear fuel. The outcome of this was the formation of a neutron star, an extremely dense object. Even after its death, the star continues to persist in the form of energized matter and antimatter particles, which are released in intense winds. This celestial formation is approximately 16,000 light-years away from Earth.
NASA’s two telescopes, one of which is the newly launched Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), captured these captivating images of the hand-shaped pulsar. The IXPE observed the structure for a record 17 days, making it the longest it has observed a single object since its launch in December 2021.
Roger Romani of Stanford University, who spearheaded the study, stated that the IXPE data provided the initial map of the magnetic field within the ‘hand’. He explained that the X-rays are produced by charged particles that travel along the magnetic field shaping the nebula, much like bones structure a person’s hand.
The pulsar, located at the base of the nebula’s ‘palm’, was first discovered by NASA’s scientists in 2001. The recent images are aiding researchers in studying the behaviour of pulsars, particularly their role as particle accelerators.
Inside the nebula, researchers have detected an unusually high level of polarization, suggesting that the magnetic field is highly straight and uniform with minimum turbulence. Particles in the turbulent regions of the nebula are given an energy boost, causing them to move towards the ‘wrist, fingers, and thumb’ areas.
The release of these ‘ghostly cosmic hand’ images follows NASA’s recent sharing of peculiar images of a Picasso-like face on Jupiter. The new images contribute to the ongoing efforts of scientists to understand the intriguing behaviours and characteristics of pulsars.
