Researchers from Montreal and India have almost managed to go back in time by capturing a radio signal that dates back to 8.8 billion years ago, from the most distant galaxy known to date.
The signal picked up by the team was emitted by this galaxy when the universe was just 4.9 billion years old, giving researchers a glimpse into the early universe, McGill University said. , in a statement Thursday.
Thanks to the giant Metrewave radio telescope, located in India, the researchers managed to capture this radio signal coming from the galaxy farthest from Earth known to date.
Previously, astronomers had to limit themselves to nearby galaxies, since signals from distant galaxies were weak and therefore difficult to detect.
“But thanks to a natural phenomenon called gravitational lensing, we were able to pick up a weak signal from a record distance. This will allow us to understand the composition of galaxies located very far from Earth,” said Arnab Chakraborty, postdoctoral researcher at McGill University, under the supervision of Professor Matt Dobbs.
This discovery could thus open a window on the creation of the Universe.
“It’s as if we were going back in time, 8.8 billion years ago,” said the researcher, who studies cosmology in the Department of Physics at McGill University.
These results also open the way to exciting possibilities for exploring the cosmic evolution of stars and galaxies using existing low-frequency radio telescopes, the statement concluded.