Show a cosmic hand

2009/04/14 Lakar Iraizoz, Oihane - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

The nebula, which has come out of a dead star, pretends a hand when NASA's Chandra Observatory takes out the photo. The aforementioned nebula has been created by the energy that is emitting the B1509, a pulsar that is 17,000 light-years from us. Pulsars are neutron stars that move very fast around themselves and, in rotation, emit a lot of energy. In the image, the jets of lower energy level detected by Chandra appear in red, those of intermediate energy level in green and those of higher energy level in blue. Joining all the energies you can see a hand that is touching a necklace with the tips of the fingers, with a little imagination.

Image courtesy of: NASA/CXC/CfA/P. Slane et al.