'Hand of God' Cloud

Well, a heavenly day to you! Thanks for orbiting down from cyberspace to my virtual café today. Pour yourself some divine coffee and grab an angelic virtual treat while I tell you about a starry phenomenon that occurred in the heavens several days ago.

NASA scientists have nicknamed a cloud that developed from an exploding star the 'Hand of God' because of its shape.

The cloud is a pulsar wind nebula and is fuelled by the leftover, dense core of a star that blew up in a supernova explosion. The particles are interacting with magnetic fields around the material, causing it to glow with X-rays.

"The result is a cloud that...looked like an open hand," NASA said on its website.
"One of the big mysteries of this object is whether the pulsar particles are interacting with the material in a specific way to make it look like a hand, or if the material is in fact shaped like a hand."

There is a second red cloud near the "fingertips" of the Hand of God cloud. Astronomers think the pulsar's wind is heating this cloud, causing it to glow.

 The 'Hand of God,' the energized remains of a dead star that resembles a hand, was captured by NASA’s NuSTAR telescope. The image, along with one that shows distant black holes buried in blankets of dust, showcase the telescope’s ability to spy objects both near and far, according to the space agency. 

Now that is one specky light show, wouldn't you agree?

See ya, eh!

Bob