In an extraordinary discovery, astronomers have observed a “flame-throwing guitar” structure in deep space, captured through NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. The object, known as the Guitar Nebula, is a mesmerizing cosmic phenomenon located around a pulsar, PSR B2224+65, a rapidly spinning neutron star formed after the collapse of a massive star.
The nebula’s striking guitar shape is created by energetic particles being expelled from the pulsar. As the pulsar moves through space, these particles are blown into bubbles, creating the guitar-like form. The pulsar itself, located at the tip of the “guitar,” emits a filament of particles and X-ray radiation, resembling a flame. This high-energy radiation is captured by Chandra, revealing the intricate dynamics of the cosmic structure.
The pulsar’s extreme rotation and intense magnetic fields accelerate particles to near light speed, generating both matter and antimatter. This process, which defies the usual mass-energy conversion (as described by Einstein’s famous equation E=mc²), results in the creation of electron and positron pairs. The energetic particles spiral around magnetic field lines, producing the X-rays detected by Chandra.
A new movie made from Chandra and Palomar data showcases this remarkable event, with X-rays tracing a filament stretching about two light-years across. The pulsar’s movement, combined with variations in the surrounding gas density, affects the production of these bubbles and the intensity of the X-ray filament, giving it a dynamic, flame-like appearance.
The data also reveals how these energetic particles interact with the surrounding interstellar medium, providing scientists with valuable insights into the behavior of particles and their role in the broader cosmos. Astronomers have observed that the pulsar’s movement and the fluctuations in the nebula’s density cause subtle changes in the filament’s brightness, akin to a cosmic blowtorch.
This cosmic spectacle offers a rare glimpse into the fundamental processes at play in the universe, shedding light on the behavior of high-energy particles and their impact on the space between stars.
For more details, the study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center oversees the Chandra program, with operations managed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center in Massachusetts.
This release presents two short videos and a labeled composite image depicting a giant “flame-throwing guitar” in space. The Guitar Nebula, shaped like a guitar, is formed by a hydrogen nebula around the pulsar PSR B2224+65. As the pulsar ejects particles, they create a cloud of bubbles that are shaped into a guitar-like structure by a steady wind.
The pulsar also emits a long filament of energetic particles, seen as a streak of X-ray light in the images, stretching 12 trillion miles. The two videos show the dynamic behavior of the nebula and filament over time, with the Hubble and Chandra data revealing the pulsar’s influence on both the guitar shape and the X-ray blast.