- A shocking new composite picture captures the hand-shaped nebula MSH 15-52 together with the stays of the supernova that shaped it.
- Astronomers mixed X-ray knowledge from NASA’s Chandra Observatory with radio observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array, uncovering fresh details and hidden structures.
- At the center lies a pulsar, an ultra-dense neutron star spinning rapidly, which fuels the creation of the nebula.
- This extraordinary system began when a massive star used up its nuclear fuel, collapsed inward, and then exploded in a brilliant supernova.
A Cosmic Hand in Space
In 2009, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory unveiled a striking image of a pulsar surrounded by a nebula shaped like a giant hand.
Since that first release, astronomers have continued to track the object using Chandra along with other powerful telescopes. Most recently, scientists paired new radio observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) with Chandra’s X-ray data, creating a more detailed portrait of the aftermath of this stellar explosion and offering new clues about its unusual appearance.
Contemporary Insights from Radio and X-Ray Knowledge
On the coronary heart of this dramatic view is pulsar B1509-58, a quickly rotating neutron star that measures solely about 12 miles throughout. Regardless of its small measurement, it produces a sprawling nebula (often called MSH 15-52) that stretches greater than 150 light-years, or roughly 900 trillion miles. This huge cloud of energetic particles takes on the eerie form of a human hand, with a glowing palm and outstretched fingers reaching upward to the correct in X-ray mild.
The pulsar itself was born when an enormous star collapsed after exhausting its provide of nuclear gas. The inward crash triggered a supernova, blasting the star’s outer layers into area and forsaking the dense remnant.
Immediately, B1509-58 rotates almost seven instances per second and carries a magnetic area estimated to be about 15 trillion instances stronger than Earth’s. This extraordinary mixture of velocity and magnetism makes it one of many galaxy’s strongest pure dynamos, driving a fierce outflow of electrons and different particles that kind the nebula.
One of many Galaxy’s Most Highly effective Mills
On this new composite picture, the ATCA radio knowledge (represented in purple) has been mixed with X-rays from Chandra (proven in blue, orange and yellow), together with an optical picture of hydrogen fuel (gold). The areas of overlap between the X-ray and radio knowledge in MSH 15-52 present as purple. The optical picture exhibits stars within the area of view together with components of the supernova’s particles, the supernova remnant RCW 89. A labeled model of the determine exhibits the primary options of the picture.
Radio knowledge from ATCA now reveals advanced filaments which might be aligned with the instructions of the nebula’s magnetic area, proven by the brief, straight, white traces in a supplementary picture. These filaments may outcome from the collision of the pulsar’s particle wind with the supernova’s particles.
Mysterious Filaments and Magnetic Fields
By evaluating the radio and X-ray knowledge, researchers recognized key variations between the sources of the 2 varieties of mild. Particularly, some distinguished X-ray options, together with the jet in the direction of the underside of the picture and the inside components of the three “fingers” in the direction of the highest, will not be detected in radio waves. This implies that extremely energetic particles are leaking out from a shock wave — much like a supersonic airplane’s sonic increase — close to the pulsar and shifting alongside magnetic area traces to create the fingers.
The radio knowledge additionally exhibits that RCW 89’s construction is completely different from typical younger supernova remnants. A lot of the radio emission is patchy and intently matches clumps of X-ray and optical emission. It additionally extends effectively past the X-ray emission. All of those traits help the concept that RCW 89 is colliding with a dense cloud of close by hydrogen fuel.
Nevertheless, the researchers don’t totally perceive all that the information is exhibiting them. One space that’s perplexing is the sharp boundary of X-ray emission within the higher proper of the picture that appears to be the blast wave from the supernova — see the labeled function. Supernova blast waves are normally vibrant in radio waves for younger supernova remnants like RCW 89, so it’s stunning to researchers that there isn’t a radio sign on the X-ray boundary.
Perplexing Boundaries and Lacking Alerts
MSH 15–52 and RCW 89 present many distinctive options not present in different younger sources. There are, nevertheless, nonetheless many open questions relating to the formation and evolution of those constructions. Additional work is required to offer higher understanding of the advanced interaction between the pulsar wind and the supernova particles.
A paper describing this work, led by Shumeng Zhang of the College of Hong Kong, with co-authors Stephen C.Y. Ng of the College of Hong Kong and Niccolo’ Bucciantini of the Italian Nationwide Institute for Astrophysics, has been printed in The Astrophysical Journal.
Reference: “Excessive-resolution Radio Examine of Pulsar Wind Nebula MSH 15–52 and Supernova Remnant RCW 89” by S. Zhang, C.-Y. Ng and N. Bucciantini, 20 August 2025, The Astrophysical Journal.
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adf333
NASA’s Marshall House Flight Middle in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Middle controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
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