NASA diagnoses fracture in a 'huge cosmic bone' using X-ray observatory
- In 2024, astronomers captured images of a fracture in the galactic center filament G359.13142-0.20005 near the Milky Way’s core by combining X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra Observatory with observations from radio facilities.
- The fracture likely resulted from a fast-moving pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star, impacting the 230-light-year-long filament known as G359.13 or the Snake.
- G359.13, also known as the Snake, is a notably bright and extensive radio filament near the center of the Milky Way, situated approximately 26,000 light-years from Earth and extending about 230 light-years, with radio emissions produced by high-energy particles moving along magnetic field lines.
- Researchers estimate that the pulsar was traveling at an extraordinary velocity ranging from approximately 1.6 to 3.2 million kilometers per hour, and this rapid impact disrupted the magnetic field of the filament, resulting in the observed fracture.
- This discovery suggests that such filaments can be disrupted by neutron stars, and scientists hope the fracture will self-heal over millennia, as the Milky Way cannot bind the filament in place.
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Total News Sources28
Leaning Left4Leaning Right4Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution53% Center
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- 53% of the sources are Center
53% Center
L 24%
C 53%
R 24%
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