The Metrewave telescope in India (photo: official website, Metrewave)
Scientists have managed to receive a radio signal from a galaxy about 8.8 billion light-years away from Earth - according to a report in the scientific journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
These are not aliens trying to communicate with us, but this is the first time in history that a radio signal has been received at such a great distance.
According to the publication, the signal was picked up with the help of the giant Metrewave radio telescope, which is located in the observatory in India, and will make it possible to study the evolution of stars and galaxies in the depths of space, at a time when the universe was only 4.9 billion years old.
"A galaxy emits different types of radio signals. Until now, this particular signal could only be captured from a nearby galaxy, limiting our knowledge to galaxies closer to Earth," said Arnav Chakraborty, a cosmologist and co-author of the study on the discovery.
He also added: "This is equivalent to looking 8.8 billion years back in time."
Radio signal detected on earth from galaxy 9 BILLION light years away?.
Researchers in Canada and India were able to capture the signal from the galaxy named 'SDSSJ0826+5630', with the help of a giant telescope in India.
#Radio #GalaxyA14 #planet pic.twitter.com/ceBiBU92tQ
— Let's Grow (@Billion04553432) January 22, 2023
So how did the laws manage to detect the signal from such a huge distance?
Chakraborty explained that the radio signal was received by the telescope after undergoing gravitational lensing - a condition that allows using bodies with a large mass, such as stars and even galaxies, as a lens that focuses rays from distant sources and focuses them on us.
In fact, it is our best means of understanding how stars form in different galaxies.
technology
Tags
signals
galaxy