NASA publishes an image of the “ghostly cosmic hand,” which is of a dead star located 16 thousand light-years from Earth.

Weather of Arabia - NASA published an image known as the “ghostly cosmic hand”, which is the remains of a dead star MSH 15-52 located 16 thousand light-years from Earth.

NASA reported that the image is the product of a joint effort by two space telescopes that monitor X-rays. We were able to combine hundreds of images to explore the "structure" of an amazing hand-shaped magnetic field in space.

NASA indicated that the image reveals the behavior of a dead star, as it appears to be living through columns composed of active matter and antimatter. The image provides an accurate visualization of the mysterious cosmic structure and details how its bones were formed.

X-rays are commonly used to see bones in your body, but they are also used to reveal more of our @NASAUniverse ! #IXPE and @chandraxray have combined their imaging powers to unveil the magnetic field “bones” of a hand-shaped structure in space >> https://t.co/d5tW5jvL6G pic.twitter.com/PUHIb7aeM3

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) October 31, 2023

The pulsar, PSR B1509-58, was first discovered by the Chandra telescope in 2001. Scientists quickly noticed how the pulsar's wind nebula, also known as MSH 15-52, appears strikingly similar to the shape of a human body part.

Pulsar wind nebula

Pulsar wind nebulae form as a result of intense winds that carry particles and matter away from the poles of the pulsar. This pulsar is a collapsed star with high magnetism and rotating very quickly. The bright white spot near the base of the palm represents the pulsar itself and is located about 16,000 light-years from Earth.

NASA's newest X-ray telescope, known by the acronym IXPE, studied the nebula MSH 15-52 for just over two weeks, the longest period of time spent observing any astronomical object since its launch in December 2021.

Roger Romani of Stanford University in California, who led the study, noted the importance of the data collected by IXPE, saying: “The IXPE data enables us to create the first map of the magnetic field inside the space hand.” He explained that the charged particles that produce X-rays interact with the magnetic field and form the basic structure of the nebula, in a way similar to how bones are formed in a human hand.

“We all know X-rays as a medical tool for diagnosis in humans, and here we are using them in a different way to discover information that was hidden from us,” added Josephine Wong, a co-author of the study who is studying at Stanford University.

Astronomers take advantage of X-ray images like these to understand more about the formation of these phenomena and objects in deep space.