MSH 15-52 is a supernova remnant in Circinus around a young, fast-spinning pulsar whose wind blows an X-ray nebula shaped like an open hand.
At a glance
| type | supernova remnant |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 17,000 light-years (5.2 kpc) |
| its light left it | 17,000 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 150 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About MSH 15-52
At the heart of MSH 15-52 is a pulsar, the spinning neutron star left by the explosion, young and among the most energetic known in the Galaxy. It sheds its rotational energy as a wind of charged particles and magnetic field, and that wind fills a pulsar wind nebula glowing in X-rays.
Chandra images show the nebula as a palm with outstretched fingers, which earned it the nickname Hand of God. The fingers point towards RCW 89, a neighbouring cloud of glowing gas which the outflow appears to be heating. The pulsar wind nebula is also a strong source of very high energy gamma rays.
What you see in the piece
Choose the X-ray band to see it; at visible wavelengths dust in the southern Milky Way hides most of it.
Questions
Why is MSH 15-52 called the Hand of God?
In X-ray images its pulsar wind nebula looks like a palm with fingers, a shape traced by particles streaming from the central pulsar.
How far away is MSH 15-52?
MSH 15-52 is about 17,000 light-years (5.2 kpc) from the Sun.