Astronomers have discovered that a powerful pulsar, speeding through space at up to 3 million km/h (1.8 million mph), disrupted the structure of a giant magnetic filament known as the “Snake” at the center of the Milky Way. This 230-light-year-long filament is composed of accelerated particles and magnetic fields and emits in both radio and X-ray wavelengths. Its structure is mostly smooth—except for two notable kinks, one of which scientists have now traced back to a surprising source.
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope, researchers identified a source of intense radiation right at the site of the disruption. The culprit: a pulsar—a fast-moving neutron star left behind after a supernova explosion. Led by Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, the team concluded that the pulsar pierced the “Snake” at extremely high speed, somewhere between 500 and 1000 km/s (1.1 to 2.2 million mph), causing a dramatic distortion in the magnetic field and an increase in radio emissions.
Such high velocities are typical for pulsars, especially when the star’s explosion was asymmetrical—effectively “kicking” the dense stellar core out at breakneck speed. X-ray data also revealed accelerated electrons and positrons near the object, further confirming its disruptive impact on the filament.
A second, smaller kink in the filament remains unexplained, as does the precise origin of the pulsar itself. But given its extraordinary speed, scientists believe it could eventually escape the Milky Way entirely—though, at 26,000 light-years from Earth, that journey would take millions of years.
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