Astronomers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have discovered a loud "roar" of radio signals of unknown origin and more than six times louder than expected.Scientists intended to study the faint residual heat from star formation using a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics and Diffuse Emission). At an altitude of 120,000 feet, the device instead detected a booming background noise of radio signals from deep space six times louder than anticipated. An analysis has discounted any known origins of the noise, such as stellar activity, radiogalaxies or other accountable sources of radiation.
Not only is this signal louder than expected, it is also louder than could be produced through the combined emissions of all known radio phenomena in the universe. As well as being a new discovery, this background noise could make astronomical measurements more difficult, as fainter signals may be obscured by this new phenomenon.
At this time, the source and location of this noise remains undetermined and unexplained.
These results were presented on January 5th at the 213th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Source: SPACE.com
No comments:
Post a Comment