All articles tagged with #radio telescopes
Researchers mapped the Vela Supercluster, a colossal assembly of galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way’s dust in the Zone of Avoidance, about 800 million light-years away. It spans roughly 300 million light-years and contains mass equivalent to about 30 quadrillion suns, making it one of the universe’s largest known structures and helping refine cosmological models, with observations from SALT and MeerKAT aiding the map.
Scientists demonstrated using optical frequency combs to transmit timing signals for very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI), boosting synchronization among dispersed radio telescopes (e.g., Korea’s VLB Yonsei) beyond hydrogen-maser clocks. The proof-of-concept achieved up to 50 GHz with commercial photodiodes, and the fiber-based approach can carry multiple wavelengths to better correct atmospheric fluctuations, enabling more precise coordinated observations.
Astronomers have discovered the most distant and powerful odd radio circle (ORC) to date, featuring a rare twin-ring structure that may be linked to superwinds from host galaxies, providing new insights into galaxy and black hole evolution.
A network of UK radio telescopes has provided observational evidence supporting the pebble accretion model of planet formation by detecting centimeter-sized pebbles in protoplanetary disks around young stars, indicating these pebbles could grow into planets, potentially forming larger planetary systems than our own.
A rare snowfall in the Atacama Desert has temporarily halted operations of the ALMA radio telescope array, highlighting potential impacts of climate change on extreme weather events in this hyper-arid region, which could affect future astronomical observations.
Scientists are exploring the faint radio signals emitted by neutral hydrogen in the early universe to potentially identify and understand the properties of the first stars, using advanced radio telescopes like SKA and REACH. Modeling suggests these signals could reveal the masses and characteristics of these primordial stars, shedding light on the universe's transition from darkness to light.
The James Webb Space Telescope has advanced our understanding of distant galaxies but is unlikely to detect the very first stars due to cosmic extinction. Future telescopes focusing on longer wavelengths, such as far-infrared or radio observations from the Moon's far side, hold promise for uncovering the universe's earliest stellar populations, potentially revealing the first stars formed after the Big Bang.
Scientists have discovered a fracture in one of the Milky Way's 'galactic bones,' likely caused by a high-speed collision with a neutron star or pulsar, which has distorted the galaxy's magnetic filament structure, detected through radio and X-ray observations.
The International Academy of Astronautics is advocating for the preservation of radio silence on the far side of the Moon to protect its use as an ideal location for radio telescopes to pick up faint signals from the cosmic past. However, with increased lunar activity and plans for constant communication with lunar assets, such as NASA's Lunar Gateway and China's satellite constellation, the quiet days of the far side may be drawing to a close. This raises concerns among astronomers about the potential compromise of future observations of the cosmos and the need for regulations to protect the Moon and other celestial objects.
Researchers have detected a new and extremely powerful fast radio burst (FRB) originating from a group of merging galaxies located more than halfway across the universe. This FRB, named FRB 20220610A, is four times more energetic than other FRBs and its discovery sheds light on the mysterious origins of these astronomical events. The use of the Hubble Space Telescope was crucial in pinpointing the exact location of the FRB, which is in a peculiar environment of a galaxy interacting with at least six others. The findings were presented at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society, and researchers hope that further discoveries of FRBs will provide more insights into their causes and origins.
Scientists have discovered a radio signal within the ancient star cluster 47 Tucanae, using the most sensitive radio image to date created after over 450 hours of research and observations. The signal could indicate the presence of a black hole or a pulsar, potentially leading to a significant discovery and the first-ever radio detection of a black hole inside a cluster.
Astronomers have traced a powerful fast radio burst, FRB 20220610A, to a rare "blob-like" group of seven interacting galaxies located 8 billion light-years away. The burst, four times more energetic than previous FRBs, was detected using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The discovery sheds light on the mysterious origins of fast radio bursts and suggests that interactions within the compact galactic group, possibly triggering bursts of star formation, may have caused the FRB. Understanding the origins of fast radio bursts could provide insights into the nature of the universe and help astronomers determine the underlying causes of these cosmic events.
Astronomers have finally found a possible explanation for the mysterious odd radio circles (ORCs) in deep space, which were discovered in 2019. These ghostly circles are believed to be shockwaves created by powerful galactic winds emanating from starburst galaxies, where intense star formation occurs due to galactic mergers. Computer simulations suggest that these galactic outflows, driven by high rates of supernova explosions, could produce the observed ORCs. This discovery raises questions about the duration and prevalence of ORCs and their relationship to starbursting galaxies, offering potential insights into the evolution of the Universe.
Tel Aviv University researchers have published a study in Nature Astronomy, proposing that radio telescopes on the moon could provide groundbreaking insights into the early universe, specifically the cosmic dark ages just 50 million years after the Big Bang. By detecting radio waves emitted from hydrogen gas during that time, scientists could test the standard cosmological model, determine the composition of the universe, and potentially gain clues about dark matter. The study also suggests that a lunar antenna array could accurately measure the amount of hydrogen and helium in the universe, as well as the weight of cosmic neutrinos.
Physicists Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson discovered an unusual noise in their radio telescope observations in 1964, which turned out to be the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - the leftover radiation from the Big Bang. This discovery provided evidence for the Big Bang theory and earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics. Interestingly, the static "snow" seen on old analog TVs between channels also contains remnants of the CMB, although modern digital TVs and radios do not pick it up.