In this case, the space-warping object was the gigantic star-forming galaxy SDSSJ0826+5630, which used its powerful warping effect to act as a lens that steered a faint and distant neutral hydrogen signal into focus for the GMRT. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive object sits between our telescopes and its source. In his theory of general relativity, Albert Einstein explained that gravity isn't produced by an unseen force but rather is our experience of space-time curving and distorting in the presence of matter and energy. Sorry folks: 'Alien' signal from Proxima Centauri was likely just a broken computer on Earth China's 'alien' signal almost certainly came from humans, project researcher says How gravitational waves can 'see inside' black holes To find a signal at double the previous distance, the researchers turned to an effect called gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing peers into the past Until now, the farthest 21 cm hydrogen signal detected was 4.4 billion light-years away. But using neutral-hydrogen signals to study the early universe is a tough task, as the long-wavelength, low-intensity waves often get drowned out across vast cosmic distances. Neutral hydrogen emits light at a characteristic wavelength of 21 centimeters. Detecting and studying neutral hydrogen can provide an insight into the lives of the earliest stars, as well as the time before stars existed. Eventually, young stars lose their ultraviolet intensity, and some of the ionized atoms recombine into neutral hydrogen. When stars do eventually form, they blast out fierce ultraviolet light that strips the electrons from much of the hydrogen atoms in the space surrounding them, thus ionizing the atoms so they're no longer neutral. ![]() "Until now, it's only been possible to capture this particular signal from a galaxy nearby, limiting our knowledge to those galaxies closer to Earth." The 'dark age' of the universeįorged roughly 400,000 years after the beginning of the universe when protons and electrons first bonded to neutrons, neutral hydrogen populated the dim early cosmos throughout its so-called dark age - an epoch before the first stars and galaxies came into existence. Their main means of detection is using radio-telescopes, and their most ambitious project to date has been 'Project Phoenix' the "world's most sensitive and comprehensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence."A galaxy emits different kinds of radio signals," study lead author Arnab Chakraborty, a cosmologist at McGill University in Canada, said in a statement. We have several weapons in our cosmic detection arsenal, most of which are used by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI). This gives us hope in our attempt to decode the hundreds of "strange, alien" signals coming from other stars that have been observed recently. While this discovery is a disappointment to alien enthusiasts everywhere, as the Wow! Signal is the strongest signal we have ever received from space, it is a testament to our ability to accurately interpret signals and sounds from the cosmos. Notably, the team has verified that the comets were within the vicinity at the time, and they report that the radio signals from 266/P Christensen matched those from the Wow! signal. The Wow! Signal was detected at 1420MHz, which is the radio frequency hydrogen naturally emits. These comets, known as 266P/Christensen and 335P/Gibbs, have clouds of hydrogen gas millions of kilometers in diameter surrounding them. The work was published in the Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. ![]() However, Professor Antonio Paris, of St Petersburg College, has now discovered the explanation: A pair of comets. Image Credit: Big Ear Radio Observatory and North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |