Astronomers Detect a Record-Breaking “Cosmic Laser” From 8 Billion Light-Years Away
Astronomers using the MeerKAT telescope have discovered a record-breaking hydroxyl megamaser located 8 billion light-years away. This 'cosmic laser' provides a rare window into the chaotic star-forming environments of the early universe.
Why it matters
The discovery offers significant insights into galaxy evolution and the conditions of the universe when it was less than half its current age.
MeerKAT has detected a record-breaking hydroxyl megamaser from a merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away, opening a new way to study the early universe.
Using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope, astronomers have identified the farthest hydroxyl megamaser ever observed, marking a major step forward for radio astronomy. A hydroxyl megamaser is a naturally occurring space laser, and this one comes from a violently merging galaxy located more than 8 billion light-years away.
We spoke to the astronomers, Thato Manamela, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pretoria, and Roger Deane, director of the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy and a professor at the universities of Cape Town and Pretoria, about their study.
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