Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) data have been used to examine the pulsar wind nebula known as MSH 15-52. Pulsar wind nebulae are clouds of energetic particles blown away from dead, collapsed stars. In 2001, NASA’s Chandra (image below on the left) first observed the pulsar PSR B1509-58 and revealed that its pulsar wind nebula resembles a human hand. The pulsar is located at the base of the “palm” of the nebula and MSH 15-52 is located 16,000 light-years from Earth. IXPE observed this for about 17 days of observing time, the longest look at a single object yet for this mission.
Together (image below on the right), the Chandra and IXPE X-ray telescopes reveal the bones of this ghostly cosmic hand. In large regions of MSH 15-52 the amount of polarization is remarkably high, reaching the maximum level expected from theoretical work. To achieve that strength, the magnetic field must be very straight and uniform, meaning there is little turbulence in those regions of the pulsar wind nebula. One particularly interesting feature of MSH 15-52 is a bright X-ray jet directed from the pulsar to the “wrist” at the bottom of the image. The new IXPE data reveal that the polarization at the start of the jet is low, likely because this is a turbulent region with complex, tangled magnetic fields associated with the generation of high-energy particles. By the end of the jet the magnetic field lines appear to straighten and become much more uniform, causing the polarization to become much larger. These results imply that particles are given an energy boost in complex turbulent regions near the pulsar at the base of the palm, and flow to areas where the magnetic field is uniform along the wrist, fingers, and thumb.
Read the article at https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/msh1552/.
