X-ray scan of the hand of God, NASA captured the "bones" of the MSH 15-52 nebula

CTOnews.com, November 1 (Xinhua) Wilhelm R ö ntgen took the first X-ray photograph in human history in 1895, and astronomers also actively used X-rays to observe the depths of the universe. NASA successfully photographed the "bones" of the hand of God using X-rays.

The pulsar PSR B1509-58 was first observed by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory in 2001. It was found that its pulsar wind nebula (MSH 15-52) resembled a human hand, hence the nickname "the hand of the universe" or "the hand of God". The pulsar lies at the bottom of the nebula's palm, about 16000 light-years from Earth. CTOnews.com attached the video as follows:

Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Imaging X-ray polarization detector (IXPE), NASA recently performed an X-ray scan of the "hand of God" after continuously observing MSH 15-52 for about 17 days, showing the "bones" inside.

Roger Romani of Stanford University in California, who led the study, said

IXPE data provides us with the first X-ray of the hand of God. The charged particles that produce X-rays travel along the magnetic field, determining the basic shape of the nebula, just like bones in human hands.