NASA astronomers have discovered an unexpected “signal” coming from outside our galaxy that they can’t explain.
Scientists were analyzing 13 years of data. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope when they noticed a mysterious signal.
It was “an unexpected and as yet unexplained feature outside our galaxy,” writes Frances Reddy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
of powerful telescope Gamma rays are huge bursts of energy hundreds of billions to hundreds of billions of times larger than what we can see with our eyes. They are often created when a star explodes or a nuclear explosion occurs. They stumbled upon Alternative Signal while looking for something completely different.
“This is a completely serendipitous discovery,” said cosmologist Alexander Kashlinsky of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Present your findings to the American Astronomical Society.
“We found a stronger signal in a different part of the sky than what we were looking for.”
They were looking for one of the earliest signatures of gamma rays to create the first atoms, known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB).
The CMB has a dipole structure, meaning one end is hotter and more crowded than the other. Astronomers generally believe that the solar system’s motion creates structure.
Instead, the researchers detected a signal about the same size and coming from a similar direction as another unexplained feature, including the most energetic cosmic particle ever detected.
“We have discovered a gamma-ray dipole, whose peak is located in the southern sky far from the CMB, and whose magnitude is 10 times larger than what would be expected from our motion,” said Goddard Astrophysics. said scholar Chris Schroeder.
A paper describing the results was published in the journal this week. Astrophysics Journal Letter.
They believe the discovery may be related to cosmic gamma-ray signatures observed at Argentina’s Pierre Auger Observatory in 2017.
Astronomers believe that the two phenomena may originate from a single, unidentified source due to their similar structures.
They hope to find the cause of the mystery or develop alternative explanations for both features.
NASA’s unexpected discovery could help astronomers confirm or question ideas about how dipole structures form.
“The discrepancy in the size and orientation of the CMB dipole reveals physical processes active in the universe that may date back to the very beginning of the universe, less than a trillionth of a second,” said Fernando Atrio Barrandera. We might be able to catch a glimpse of it.” Co-author of research paper.
NASA did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment.
This article was first published business insider.
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