NASA has revealed a breathtaking new image of what looks like a massive "cosmic hand" reaching across space. The formation stretches about 150 light-years and is powered by one of the galaxy’s strongest electromagnetic engines.
Discovery Traced Back to 2009
Astronomers first spotted the unusual structure in 2009, when NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured an image of a pulsar and its surrounding nebula shaped like a human hand. Since then, scientists have tracked it closely using Chandra and other telescopes.
In a post on X, NASA explained, “New radio data has been combined with NASA's @chandraxray data to provide a fresh view of an exploded star and its surrounding nebula, helping astronomers better understand this ‘cosmic hand's peculiar properties and shape.”
New radio data has been combined with NASA's @chandraxray data to provide a fresh view of an exploded star and its surrounding nebula - helping astronomers better understand this "cosmic hand's" peculiar properties and shape.
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) August 20, 2025
See what we've learned >> https://t.co/WtEh4CBNKL pic.twitter.com/lXYD7R8Xfq
Combining X-ray and Radio Data
The latest image combines Chandra’s X-ray readings with radio observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). This fusion revealed new details of the exploded star and its environment, giving astronomers a clearer view of its strange structure.
At the centre lies pulsar B1509-58, a neutron star only 12 miles (19 km) wide. Despite its small size, it spins nearly seven times per second and produces an enormous nebula called MSH 15-52. The nebula, stretching over 150 light-years, glows in X-ray light and resembles a giant hand with a palm and fingers.
A Powerful Electromagnetic Engine
According to NASA, B1509-58 has a magnetic field about 15 trillion times stronger than Earth’s, making it “one of the most powerful electromagnetic generators in the Galaxy.”
A pulsar is the dense remnant of a massive star that exploded in a supernova, while a nebula is a vast cloud of gas and dust left behind.
Intricate Structures Revealed
The new ATCA radio data showed thin filaments aligned with the nebula’s magnetic field. Scientists believe these filaments formed when the pulsar’s high-energy particle winds crashed into the expanding debris of the original explosion.
Interestingly, the combined data revealed key contrasts. NASA noted, “Some prominent X-ray features, including the jet towards the bottom of the image and the inner parts of the three ‘fingers’ towards the top, are not detected in radio waves. This suggests that highly energetic particles are leaking out from a shock wave — similar to a supersonic plane's sonic boom — near the pulsar and moving along magnetic field lines to create the fingers.”
Insights Into Nearby Supernova Remnant
The observations also shed light on RCW 89, a supernova remnant near the pulsar. Unlike most young remnants, RCW 89 shows patchy radio emissions that overlap with clusters of X-ray and optical light. This unusual pattern is helping astronomers study how the aftermath of massive stellar explosions evolves over time.