Haunting ‘bones of a ghostly cosmic hand’ is captured in space: NASA’s new telescope captures eerie remnants of a supernova 16,000 light-years from Earth

NASA’s new X-ray telescope observed the terrifying ‘bones’ of a ghostly cosmic hand 16,000 light-years from Earth for a record 17 days.

Although the formation has been observed before, this is the longest time the telescope has looked since its launch in December 2021.

The eerie formation, which resembles an arm reaching into space, is a remnant of a supernova explosion 1,700 years ago called MSH 15-52, one of the youngest in the Milky Way galaxy.

The supernova that resulted in the unusual pattern also created an ultra-dense, magnetized star called a pulsar.

NASA’s new X-ray telescope observed the terrifying ‘bones’ of a ghostly cosmic hand 16,000 light-years from Earth for a record 17 days

“About 1,500 years ago, our galaxy ran out of nuclear fuel to burn,” researchers led by Stanford University in California shared in a statement.

‘When this happened, the star collapsed in on itself, forming an extremely compact object called a neutron star.’

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory first spotted MSH 15-52 in 2001 and also captured a hand-like formation.

But the agency’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) captured even more details of the terrifying remains, along with an eerie purple glow.

Roger Romani of Stanford University in California, who led the research, said: ‘The IXPE data gives us the first map of the hand.

‘The charged particles that produce the X-rays travel along the Earth and determine the basic shape of the nebula, just like the bones in a human hand.’

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory first spotted MSH 15-52 in 2001 (photo) and also captured a hand-like formation

IXPE provides information about the electric field orientation of X-rays, determined by the magnetic field of the X-ray source – this is called X-ray polarization.

“Over large regions of MSH 15-52, the degree of polarization is remarkably high and reaches the maximum level expected from theoretical work,” the researchers shared.

‘To achieve that strength, the magnetic field must be very straight and uniform, which means there is little turbulence in the pulsar wind nebula regions.’

While the entire formation is breathtaking, the team pointed out one particularly interesting feature of MSH 15-52: a bright X-ray beam directed from the pulsar toward the ‘wrist’ at the bottom of the image.

“The new IXPE data shows that the polarization at the beginning of the jet is low, probably because this is a turbulent region with complex, tangled magnetic fields associated with the generation of high-energy particles,” the teams noted.

‘At the end of the jet, the magnetic field lines appear to straighten out and become much more uniform, causing the polarization to become much greater.’

The research results have suggested that particles get an energy boost in complex turbulent regions near the pulsar at the base of the palm and flow to areas where the magnetic field is uniform along the wrist, fingers and thumb.

Co-author Niccolò Di Lalla, also from Stanford, said: ‘We have uncovered the life history of super-energetic matter and antimatter particles around the pulsar.

‘This teaches us how pulsars can function as particle accelerators.’