A radio signal 9 billion light-years from Earth was captured in a record-breaking recording, Space.com said on Friday.
The signal was detected by a unique detector known as the “21-centimeter line” or “hydrogen line,” which emits light from neutral hydrogen atoms.
A signal captured by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India could mean scientists can trace the formation of some of the first stars and galaxies, the report said.
The researchers detected a signal from “star-forming sdSSJ0826+5630,” which was emitted when the 13.8-billion-year-old Milky Way – the galaxy in which Earth resides – was 4.9 billion years old.
“It is the equivalent of a time mirror of 8.8 billion years,” lead author and McGill University Department of Physics post-doctoral cosmologist Arnab Chakraborty said in a statement this week.
Galaxies emit light over a wide range of wavelengths. However, until the recent 21-cm-radio spectrum, only records from nearby galaxies have been revealed.
“The galaxy emits different types of radio signals.” Until now, only this signal could be picked up from a nearby galaxy, limiting our knowledge of these galaxies closer to Earth,” said Chakraborty.
The signal is given to astronomers to measure the gas content of the galaxy and therefore to find the mass of the galaxy.
This determination led scientists to conclude that this far-off galaxy is twice the mass of stars visible from Earth, the report said.
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