If you got it, haunt it
A pulsar wind nebula resembles a ghostly hand in a composite image captured by @NASAChandraXray and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The pulsar, a fast spinning dense neutron star, can be seen as a bright white spot near the base of the palm. The new combination with IXPE reveals the magnetic field “bones” of this remarkable structure. IXPE observed this pulsar, MSH 15-52, for 17 days which is the longest it has looked at any single object since it launched in December 2021.
The second image shows the magnetic field map in MSH 15-52. In this image, short straight lines represent IXPE polarization measurements, mapping the direction of the local magnetic field. Orange “bars” mark the most precise measurements, followed by cyan and blue bars with less precise measurements. The complex field lines follow the `wrist', 'palm' and 'fingers' of the hand, and probably help define the extended finger-like structures.
The amount of polarization — indicated by bar length — is remarkably high, reaching the maximum level expected from theoretical work. To achieve that strength, the magnetic field must be very straight and uniform, meaning there is little turbulence in those regions of the pulsar wind nebula.
Image description:
1- A composite image of a pulsar wind nebula, which strongly resembles a ghostly purple hand with sparkling fingertips. The three longest fingertips of the hand-shape point toward our upper right, or 1:00 on a clock face. There, a small, mottled, orange and yellow cloud appears to sparkle or glow like embers. This orange cloud is part of the remains of the supernova explosion that created the pulsar. The backdrop of stars was captured in infrared light.
2- The second image is the same as the first, this time with magnetic field vectors in orange, cyan and blue. Their placement follows the structure of the hand, indicating the precision of measurements.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./R. Romani et al. (Chandra); NASA/MSFC (IXPE); Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DECaPS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt
[ NASA Share this information : ]
31 October 2023
Post a Comment