An inexplicable signal has arrived from beyond our galaxy, according to NASA, whose scientists were combing through 13 years of data from the Fermi Gamma Space Telescope and noticed something completely unexpected.
A high-powered telescope can detect gamma rays, which are bursts of light with enormous energy, thousands to hundreds of billions of times greater than what our eyes can see. They are often created by exploding stars or nuclear explosions. Scientists found the surrogate marker when they were looking for something completely different.
This is a completely random discovery – It is to explain Alexander Kashlinsky, a researcher at the University of Maryland and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
To create the first atoms, they looked for one of the oldest features of gamma rays known as the cosmic microwave background, or CMB. The CMB has a dipole structure, with one end hotter and busier than the other. Most astronomers believe that the motion of our solar system creates this structure.
But instead of the expected result, the researchers detected a signal coming from a similar direction and of approximately the same size: a signal It was among the most energetic cosmic particles ever discovered. This discovery is believed to be linked to a cosmic gamma ray burst observed by the Argentine Pierre Auger Observatory in 2017.
Astronomers believe that the two phenomena may come from one unknown source, as their structure is very similar. Experts want to put an end to the mystery, either by identifying the source or by searching for an alternative explanation.
the NASA Its unexpected discovery could help astronomers confirm or challenge ideas about the formation of the dipole structure.
The discrepancy in the size and direction of the CMB dipole may provide a glimpse into physical processes in the very early universe, perhaps down to the era when the universe was smaller than a trillionth of a second. – Fernando Atrio Barandela, A. said Astrophysical Journal Letters He co-authored a study published in the journal
