It’s the oldest and the most distant: they discovered a mysterious signal in the universe that took 8,000 million years to reach Earth

According to experts, FRBs are Remote bursts of cosmic radio waves of unknown origin, But they can be used to measure “missing” matter between galaxies.

As reported by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) based in Garching, Germany, the source of the explosion was identified by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) located in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

The discovered explosion Its name was FRB 20220610A and it was one of the most active planets. Because in a split second it released the equivalent of energy that our Sun emits in 30 years and it comes from a galaxy so far away that it takes its light 8,000 million years to reach us.

“We figured it out It is older and more distant than any other FRB source found to date “It’s likely within a small group of galaxies merging,” said astronomer Stuart Ryder, lead author of the study, regarding the origin of the explosion.

The first FRB was discovered in 2007, and following this discovery, hundreds of these fast cosmic flashes have been detected from distant points throughout the universe.

According to the European Southern Observatory, the detection of the fast radio bursts in question confirms this They could be used to measure “missing” matter and provide a new way to “weigh” the universeBecause current models for estimating their mass provide contradictory answers.

“If we count the amount of natural matter in the universe (the atoms of which we are composed), we find that more than half of what should be present today is missing,” explained Ryan Shannon, co-director of the study.

Shannon added that It is believed that the missing matter could be in intergalactic spacebut it can be so hot and widespread that it cannot be detected using normal techniques.

However, Shannon said, fast radio bursts “detect that ionized matter” and even in completely empty space can “see” all the electrons, making it possible to measure intergalactic matter.

although The cause of these energy explosions is still unknown. He concluded that the study confirms that they are common events in the universe and that they can be used to “better understand the structure of the universe.”

For its part, the European Southern Observatory confirmed that radio telescopes are currently being built that will be able to detect older and more distant explosions, including the Very Large Telescope that will be located in the Atacama and will be one of the few capable of studying galaxies. From where they come.