Space.com announced Friday that it has captured a radio signal nine billion light-years from Earth in a record-breaking record.
The signal was detected by a unique wavelength known as the ’21 centimeter line’ or ‘hydrogen line’ reportedly emitted from neutral hydrogen atoms.
Signals captured by India’s giant Metrewave Radio Telescope could mean Scientists can start investigating Some early star and galaxy formation, says the report.
Researchers have detected a signal from a “star-forming galaxy” titled SDSSJ0826+5630. This was ejected when the 13.8 billion year old Milky Way (the galaxy in which Earth resides) was only 4.9 billion years old.
“that is look backk is 8.8 billion years in time,” author Arnab Chakraborty, a postdoctoral cosmologist in the Department of Physics at McGill University, said in a statement this week.
Galaxies reportedly emit light over a wide range of radio wavelengthsUntil recently, however, 21 cm wavelength radio waves were only recorded from nearby galaxies.
“Galaxies emit many different types of radio signals. Until now, this particular signal could only be picked up from nearby galaxies, limiting our knowledge to galaxies closer to Earth.” Chakraborty said.
This signal allowed astronomers to measure the gas content of the galaxy and find the galaxy’s mass.
The decision led scientists to conclude that this distant galaxy has twice the mass of stars visible from Earth, the report says.
