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Universe's oldest objects emerge from the background
December 20, 2006Faint cosmic glow appears to be remnant radiation from first stars or black holes born in our universe
The deepest reaches of space are permeated by a cloak of infrared radiation, an uneven energy swath generated by long-dead objects from the early universe.
Now, researchers have teased apart overlapping signals from that cosmic infrared background, building upon an earlier study to show that uneven patches of energy may actually be clusters of the first objects to emerge from the Big Bang.
The astronomers believe the objects are either extremely bright stars more than 1,000 times more massive than our sun, or quasars, large black holes that consume enormous amounts of gas and debris and re-emit the materials in almost unparalleled bursts of energy. If the patches are star clusters, they may be the first galaxies, smaller than most known galaxies yet containing a mass on the scale of 1 million suns.
With a grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers studied archival data from the calibration of the NASA Spitzer telescope and conducted several stages of cleaning to remove signals from more recent galaxies and other objects to get to the underlying signals.
"Observing the cosmic infrared background is like watching distant fireworks from within a brightly lit city," said lead author Alexander Kashlinsky of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It's as if we have turned off the city lights one by one to see the bursts more clearly. While we can't resolve each spark in the fireworks, we can see the large scale structures and their glow."
The new study added observations of four regions of the night sky, two from each hemisphere, to data the telescope collected during a calibration last year. The new observations, with exposure times of up to 25-26 hours per pixel, peered four times deeper into the universe than the earlier effort and greatly expanded the observation area.
National Science Foundation
The astronomers believe the objects are either extremely bright stars more than 1,000 times more massive than our sun, or quasars, large black holes that consume enormous amounts of gas and debris and re-emit the materials in almost unparalleled bursts of energy. If the patches are star clusters, they may be the first galaxies, smaller than most known galaxies yet containing a mass on the scale of 1 million suns.
With a grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers studied archival data from the calibration of the NASA Spitzer telescope and conducted several stages of cleaning to remove signals from more recent galaxies and other objects to get to the underlying signals.
"Observing the cosmic infrared background is like watching distant fireworks from within a brightly lit city," said lead author Alexander Kashlinsky of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It's as if we have turned off the city lights one by one to see the bursts more clearly. While we can't resolve each spark in the fireworks, we can see the large scale structures and their glow."
The new study added observations of four regions of the night sky, two from each hemisphere, to data the telescope collected during a calibration last year. The new observations, with exposure times of up to 25-26 hours per pixel, peered four times deeper into the universe than the earlier effort and greatly expanded the observation area.
National Science Foundation
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Cosmic Radiation Current Events and Cosmic Radiation News RSSWhere man boldly goes, bacteria follow
Life in outer space is an absolute certainty, and it is likely to be more familiar than we might think, according to an article in the May issue of Microbiology Today. Ever since the start of the space race we have sent more than just satellites and astronauts into space: spacecraft are not routinely decontaminated and are teeming with microbial life.
Brain stem cells sensitive to space radiation
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists recently led a team of researchers to study potential effects of space radiation on astronauts.
Distant black holes may be source of high-energy cosmic rays
Breakthrough astrophysics research may have established the hitherto mysterious source of exceptionally high-energy cosmic ray emissions, according to recently published research that culminates a project developed by a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.
Dig deeper to find Martian life
Probes designed to find life on Mars do not drill deep enough to find the living cells that scientists believe may exist well below the surface of Mars, according to research led by UCL (University College London).
Delft nano-detector very promising for remote cosmic realms
A miniscule but super-sensitive sensor can help solve the mysteries of outer space. Cosmic radiation, which contains the terahertz frequencies that the sensors detect, offers astronomers important new information about the birth of star systems and planets.
The Milky Way shaped life on Earth
Frenzied star-making in the Milky Way Galaxy starting about 2400 million years ago had extraordinary effects on life on Earth.
Integral looks at Earth to seek source of cosmic radiation
Cosmic space is filled with continuous, diffuse high-energy radiation. To find out how this energy is produced, the scientists behind ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory have tried an unusual method: observing Earth from space.
Rare gamma-ray flare from a distant star disturbs Earth's daytime ionosphere
On Dec. 27, 2004, scientists detected the largest gamma-ray burst ever recorded. It came from a magnetar-a neutron star with an enormous magnetic field-50,000 light years away.
Integral looks at Earth to seek source of cosmic radiation
Cosmic space is filled with continuous, diffuse high-energy radiation. To find out how this energy is produced, the scientists behind ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory have tried an unusual method: observing Earth from space.
Cosmic radiation associated with risk of cataract in airline pilots
Airline pilots have an increased risk of nuclear cataracts-common type of cataract, associated with aging-compared with non-pilots, and that risk is associated with cumulative exposure to cosmic radiation.
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