Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./R. Romani et al. (Chandra); NASA/MSFC (IXPE); Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DECaPS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt

By combining data from Chandra (orange, green, and blue) and IXPE (purple), astronomers are learning more about how a pulsar is injecting particles into space and shaping its environment. The X-ray data have been combined in this image with infrared data from the Dark Energy Camera in Chile (red and blue). Young pulsars can create jets of matter and antimatter moving away from the poles of the pulsar, along with an intense wind, forming a “pulsar wind nebula”. This one, known as MSH 15-52, has a shape resembling a human hand and provides insight into how these objects are formed.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/msh1552/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html