Signal detection of 5 billion years old, preceding the solar system

A groundbreaking radio telescope project in western Australia has obtained surprising initial results, when a signal radiated before our solar system formed.

Signal 5 billion years old, preceding the solar system

Six of the 36 signal acquisition discs of the one km2 Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope project, located in a remote area of ​​western Australia , have acquired a range of cosmic radio waves from PKS B1740-517 galaxy , in the direction of the southern constellation Ara Ara.

This discovery made astronomers extremely excited, because the 5 billion-year-old signal shows that the ASKAP system is capable of detecting galaxies that other " telescopes " are powerless.

Newly obtained signals contain " traces" of cold hydrogen gas - the raw material for forming stars in most galaxies. Astronomers can detect a galaxy from its hydrogen gas, even if its starlight has faded or covered with dust.

Although very small, the signal is still visible in ASKAP data.

While many radio telescopes are troubled with radio disturbances from overlapping unwanted signals in the spectrum, the ASKAP installation location is nearly silent on the radio. Besides, with thousands of antennas connected together, stretching from Western Australia to South Africa, ASKAP also possesses 50 times the sensitivity of the best radio telescopes today.

This radio telescope system also gives astronomers a large net to capture signals - a 300 MHz wide radio spectrum for research.

According to Dr. James Allison, head of research, this feature is an outstanding advantage of ASKAP compared to most other telescopes and gives him and his colleagues a better chance to find new things. batch. The team is planning to conduct a larger survey with ASKAP to discover hundreds of galaxies.

"ASKAP is considering the less-explored portion of the radio spectrum, 700 - 1,800 MHz . We will hunt galaxies from 5 to 8 billion years old, the time period representing a fifth of the history of dance. head, " revealed physics professor Elaine Sadler, a research team member.

10 billion years ago, galaxies created stars 10 times faster than they are today. Through the study of galaxies 5-8 billion years old, astronomers hope to understand why this speed has decreased.