Astronomers find most distant signs of water in the Universe to date.Byline: ANI Washington, April 23 (ANI): Astronomers Famous astronomers and astrophysicists include: Directory: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
Dr. John McKean of the Netherlands Institute has made the discovery for Radio Astronomy radio astronomy, study of celestial bodies by means of the electromagnetic radio frequency waves they emit and absorb naturally. Radio Telescopes (ASTRON ASTRON Astronomy ). The water emission is seen as a maser maser (mā`zər), device for creation, amplification, and transmission of an intense, highly focused beam of high-frequency radio waves. , where molecules in the gas amplify and emit beams of microwave radiation in much the same way as a laser emits beams of light. The faint signal is only detectable by using a technique called gravitational lensing gravitational lens n. A massive celestial object, such as a galaxy, whose gravity bends and focuses the light of a more distant object, resulting in a magnified, distorted, or multiple image of the original light source for a distant observer. , where the gravity of a massive galaxy in the foreground acts as a cosmic telescope, bending and magnifying light from the distant galaxy to make a clover-leaf pattern of four images of MG J0414+0534, the galaxy in question. The water maser was only detectable in the brightest two of these images. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Dr. McKean, "We have been observing the water maser every month since the detection and seen a steady signal with no apparent change in the velocity of the water vapor in the data we've obtained so far." "This backs up our prediction that the water is found in the jet from the supermassive black hole, rather than the rotating disc of gas that surrounds it," he said. The radiation from the water maser was emitted when the Universe was only about 2.5 billion years old, a fifth of its current age. "The radiation that we detected has taken 11.1 billion years to reach the Earth. However, because the Universe has expanded like an inflating balloon in that time, stretching out the distances between points, the galaxy in which the water was detected is about 19.8 billion light years away," explained Dr. McKean. The team is now analyzing high-resolution data to find out how close the water maser lies to the supermassive black hole, which will give them new insights into the structure at the center of active galaxies active galaxy A galaxy emitting unusually high quantities of radiation from an active galactic nucleus at its center. Some active galaxies emit more energy in radio wavelengths than they do visible light. in the early Universe. "This detection of water in the early Universe may mean that there is a higher abundance of dust and gas around the super-massive black hole at these epochs, or it may be because the black holes are more active, leading to the emission of more powerful jets that can stimulate the emission of water masers," said Dr. McKean. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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