# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DNlo2hBJ7-9
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/33559702-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/56e767c2ca.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-08-20T19:11:41.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

X-ray and radio light go “hand in hand” in this new image 🤝

Our orbiting NASAChandraXray telescope first spotted this nebula, formally known as MSH 15-52, in 2009. At its center lies a pulsar, a rapidly-spinning, incredibly dense star that’s only about 12 miles (19 km) in diameter. It used to be a massive star that collapsed, sending its outer layers outward into space.

Now, new radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) are providing us with a fresh view of this exploded star, its environment, and its peculiar properties. This image combines data from both Chandra and the ATCA. Visit chandra.harvard.edu for the full story.

Image description: This is a composite image of a nebula and pulsar that strongly resembles a cosmic hand reaching for a neon red cloud. The neon red cloud sits near the top of the image, just to our right of center. Breaks in the cloud reveal interwoven strands of gold resembling spiderwebs, or a latticework substructure. The bottom half of the image is dominated by a massive blue hand reaching up toward the pulsar and supernova cloud. Inside the hand, streaks and swirls of blue range from pale to navy. The hand and nebula are set against the blackness of space, surrounded by scores of gleaming golden specks. At our lower left, a golden hydrogen gas cloud extends beyond the edges of the image. 

Credit: X-ray (Chandra) - NASA/CXC/Univ. of Hong Kong/S. Zhang et al.; Radio (Australia Telescope Compact Array) - ATNF/CSIRO;  H-alpha - UK STFC/Royal Observatory Edinburgh; Image Processing - NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

#NASA #Hand #Space #Pulsar #Science #Astronomy

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## Tags

hand, science, nasa, space, pulsar, astronomy

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