A rapidly-spinning stellar remnant may be the cause of a fractured 'bone' in the Milky Way galaxy, according to scientists.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory and other radio telescopes have revealed the possible culprit as a pulsar, which is a spinning neutron star.
Neutron stars are the densest-known stars. A single teaspoon of neutron star would weigh more than Mount Everest.
They form from the collapse and explosion of massive stars, and these explosions often fire the star off into space at high speeds.
One such explosive 'kick' could be the explanation behind a fractured 'bone' in our galaxy.
Our galaxy has bones?
The Milky Way galaxy contains enormous structures that scientists say resemble 'bones'.
These long formations can be seen in radio waves and are threaded by magnetic fields running parallel to them.
They give off radio waves when energised particles spiral along the magnetic fields.
The image seen here is one such cosmic 'bone', catalogued as G359.13142-0.20005 (G359.13 for short).
It's also known to astronomers as the Snake.
G359.13 is 230 lightyears long, one of the longest, brightest 'bones' in the Milky Way.
The image shows a break in G359.13, and combined X-ray and radio have revealed the cause.
Astronomers discovered an X-ray and radio source at the location of the fracture, likely caused by a pulsar.
They think the pulsar smashed into G359.13 at a speed between 1 million and 2 million miles per hour.
This distorted the magnetic field in the bone, warping the radio signal.
You can read the full paper at ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024MNRAS.530..254Y/abstract
