【House of Pleasures (House of Tolerance)】

Near the center of the Milky Wayare enormous filaments of radio energy that sometimes look like bones,House of Pleasures (House of Tolerance) and one in particular has astronomers playing orthopaedists. 

If the new picture at the top of this story reminds you of an X-ray, well, that's because it is. Scientists used a spacetelescope to examine a conspicuous fracture along the bone's 230 light-yearlength. The images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, coupled with data from the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa and the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array, have revealed what likely caused it to crack. 

The assailant, seen right at the point of the break, could be a fast-spinning neutron star, known as a pulsar. Scientists think that, as the object whizzed through the galaxy at breakneck speed, it slammed through the bone and just kept on going. The collision apparently distorted the bone's magnetic field and warped its radio signal.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SEE ALSO: Scientists discover a rebellious star family defying the cosmic order NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory helped scientists study The Snake, a filament of radio energy near the Milky Way's galactic center. Credit: NASA / CXC / J. Vaughan illustration

The discovery not only offers a diagnosis for how the filament fractured but highlights that a single star can rattle the galaxy, even long after its own death. The findingsdescribed by NASA this week were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Researchers have named the filament G359-dot-something-something-something, but friends and fun astronomers just call it "The Snake." Why, you might ask? Because G359.13142-0.20005 just doesn't roll off the tongue. 

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The glowing streak threads through the congested downtown of the Milky Way. Dozens of other such filamentsappear in radio waves around the galactic center, lit up by particles spiraling through parallel magnetic fields. The Snake is one of the longest and brightest of its kind.

But why these structures exist — and what makes some longer and more luminous than others — remains a mystery. 

---

Related Stories

---

• He found a Milky Way black hole 50 years ago, and finally got to see it
• A star factory at the heart of our galaxy is mysterious and important
• The best telescopes for gazing at stars and solar eclipses in 2024
• Webb telescope just found the holy grail in a famous supernova
• A star-like thing is flying 1 million mph in space. What the heck?

An annotated version of a composite image of The Snake shows a close-up view of the fracture and the object that likely created it. Credit: NASA / CXC / Northwestern University / F. Yusef-Zadeh et al / NRF / SARAO / MeerKat / SAO / N. Wolk

As for the assailant, it's trying to make a quick getaway. Neutron stars form when massive stars explode into supernovas, leaving behind a crushed stellar core, perhaps just 10 miles wide. But a pulsarbeams radiation as it revolves like a lighthouse beacon. 

The new images also suggest extra X-rays may be coming from the area around the pulsar. Particles like electrons and positrons — tiny pieces of matter and antimatter — that sped up during the crash may have caused them. 

After a supernova, remnant neutron stars often get an intense kickback from the blast. Scientists estimate this pulsar could be flying at a dizzying 1 million to 2 million mph. 

Topics NASA

• Life
• Tech
• Entertainment
• Deals
• Science
• Games
• Shopping
• Social Good

• Today's Hurdle hints and answers for May 12, 2025
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for March 20
• Amazon Big Spring Sale: Get a Shark self
• Nvidia's next
• Best Sony headphones deal: Over $100 off Sony XM5 headphones
• Best Apple deal: Score the Apple Watch Series 9 for under $300 at Best Buy
• iPod Shuffle hair clips prove the Y2K fashion revival is far from over
• Best earbuds deal: Get Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 nearly half off at Amazon
• Keeping Hope Alive
• What is the three

• It looks like 'Star Wars: Battlefront II' will ditch the Season Pass
• Jimmy Fallon debuts bashful Jared Kushner impression on 'SNL'
• We finally have proof Apple is working on a self
• The best TV and film Easter eggs of the year
• A closer look at 'Star Wars: Battlefront II's single and multiplayer modes
• In the rapidly expanding Mastodon fediverse, there's an instance for everyone
• Cushioning is just a fancy new way to cheat on someone
• Saturn has a tiny moon shaped like a dumpling, and I want to eat it right now
• Mark Hamill tells scandalous, funny, tender tales of Carrie Fisher, and now we're all in tears
• Star Wars Celebration is over, but these costumes will live forever

• Ryzen 5 1600X vs. 1600: Which should you buy?
• iPod Shuffle hair clips prove the Y2K fashion revival is far from over
• The U.S. is now the only nation opposed to the Paris Climate Agreement
• Winter is more likely to make you sick than the coming Arctic blast
• AMD Radeon RX 550 + Intel Pentium G4560
• We wish this insanely creepy pre
• Best earbuds deal: Get Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 nearly half off at Amazon
• We wish this insanely creepy pre
• Inside the Murky Process of Getting Games on Steam
• This bicycle light uses AI to keep you safe from bad drivers

• New MIT report reveals energy costs of AI tools like ChatGPT
• Threads rolls out trending topics for all users in the U.S.
• Amazon Big Spring Sale Bluetooth speaker deals: Bose, JBL, and more
• iPod Shuffle hair clips prove the Y2K fashion revival is far from over
• Philips now allows customers to 3D print replacement parts
• This new app is like Shazam for frogs
• Trump slashes protected national monuments, opening land for industry
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for March 19
• Episode 4: The Wave of the Future
• UVA vs. CSU basketball livestreams: Game time, streaming deals