Pulsar G359 – Galactic ‘Bone’

Pulsar G359 Galactic ‘Bone’ Latest News

Astronomers have identified the likely cause of a fracture in a long, bone-like structure in the Milky Way Galaxy, known as G359.13142-0.20005 (G359.13 or “The Snake”), using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and MeerKAT radio array.

About Pulsar G359 – Galactic ‘Bone’

• G359.13 is one of the longest and brightest non-thermal filaments in the Galaxy, stretching about 230 light-years and located ~26,000 light-years from Earth, near the Galactic Center.
• These galactic “bones” are elongated structures seen primarily in radio waves and aligned with magnetic field lines. Their appearance is due to charged particles spiraling along these magnetic fields, emitting synchrotron radiation.
• A fracture has been detected in the otherwise continuous structure of G359.13. This disruption aligns with the location of a pulsar, identified via both X-ray (Chandra) and radio data (MeerKAT and VLA).
• The pulsar is a fast-moving, highly magnetized neutron star, created by the collapse of a massive star during a supernova explosion. It travels at speeds estimated between 1 to 2 million miles per hour.
• The pulsar appears to have collided with G359.13, causing a distortion in its magnetic field, which in turn warped the radio signal and physically fractured the filament.
• The Chandra X-ray data revealed blue-colored emission from the suspected pulsar. Additional X-ray sources near the pulsar may originate from electrons and positrons (antimatter particles) that have been accelerated to extremely high energies.
• This event provides critical insights into high-energy astrophysical processes, especially the interaction of pulsars with galactic magnetic structures.

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About Chandra X-ray Observatory

• The Chandra X-ray Observatory is NASA’s flagship space telescope for detecting X-ray emissions from super-hot regions of the universe, like supernova remnants, black holes, and galaxy clusters.
• Launched on July 23, 1999, by the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-93), Chandra operates in high Earth orbit at altitudes up to 139,000 km to avoid X-ray absorption by Earth’s atmosphere.
• It is part of NASA’s “Great Observatories” program, along with the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and the now-retired Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
• Chandra has eight-times greater resolution than earlier X-ray missions and can detect X-ray sources 20 times fainter than any of its predecessors.
• It is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and supports international collaboration for studying extreme environments in the cosmos.

Source: PHY