Chandra Finds the FRACTURE in the Milky Way’s Galactic Bone

Описание: NASA’s Chandra X‑ray Observatory, with radio data from MeerKAT and the NSF’s VLA, identified a likely pulsar impact causing a “fracture” in G359.13142‑0.20005 (“The Snake”) — a ~230 light‑year galactic center filament about 26,000 light‑years away. The collision, inferred from a co‑located X‑ray/radio source and magnetic distortion, suggests a high‑velocity neutron star traveling ~1–2 million mph. Published in MNRAS (May 2024), this offers rare evidence that runaway pulsars can disrupt magnetized filaments and accelerate particles in the Galactic Center.

Key facts:

Object: G359.13 “The Snake,” galactic center filament
Distance/Size: ~26,000 ly away; ~230 ly long
Instruments: Chandra (X‑ray), MeerKAT + VLA (radio)
Cause: High‑speed pulsar impact; magnetic distortion observed
Paper: MNRAS 2024 (DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae549)
Sources:

-NASA/Chandra press release
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra...
-Chandra Photo Album + fast facts
https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/bone/
-Chandra Blog summary
https://chandra.harvard.edu/blog/node...
-ADS entry (MNRAS 2024)
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/202...
-Space.com coverage
https://www.space.com/astronomy/galax...
-Phys.org summary
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-chandra...


#Chandra #NASA #MilkyWay #GalacticCenter #Pulsar #NeutronStar #Astronomy #Astrophysics #MeerKAT #VLA #BeyondTheHorizon