Chandra X-ray Observatory Image of PSR B1509-58: Illusions in the Cosmic Clouds

Chandra Xray Observatory Image Illusions in the Cosmic Clouds

Located roughly 17,000 light-years from Earth, PSR B1509-58 is a spinning neutron star enveloped by a cloud of energetic particles. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

First released in 2009, this Chandra image shows PSR B1509-58 – a spinning neutron star surrounded by a cloud of energetic particles.

Pareidolia is the psychological phenomenon where people see recognizable shapes in clouds, rock formations, or otherwise unrelated objects or data. There are many examples of this phenomenon on Earth and in space.

When an image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory of PSR B1509-58 — a spinning neutron star surrounded by a cloud of energetic particles –was released in 2009, it quickly gained attention because many saw a hand-like structure in the X-ray emission.

In a new image of the system, X-rays from Chandra in gold are seen along with infrared data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope in red, green, and blue. Pareidolia may strike again as some people report seeing a shape of a face in WISE’s infrared data. What do you see?

NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, also took a picture of the neutron star nebula in 2014, using higher-energy X-rays than Chandra.

PSR B1509-58 is about 17,000 light-years from Earth.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the WISE mission for NASA. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra’s science and flight operations.

 

1 Comment on "Chandra X-ray Observatory Image of PSR B1509-58: Illusions in the Cosmic Clouds"

  1. I see the same face on the B1509 chandra image that is detailed on the Shroud of Turin.

    Chemical analysis proves both Chandra image and Shroud image are identical.

    See the link for confirmation.

    The Ultimate Proof ! This is the Face of Our Lord Jezus Christ on the Shroud.

    http://home.kpn.nl/britso531/

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