Astronomers can’t explain where half of the light in the universe comes from



[ad_1]

Star light

Five years ago, the New Horizons spacecraft passed Pluto and deeper into the Kuiper Belt.

Because it is so far from the Sun and cosmic dust in the nearest solar system that reflects its light, blinding astronomers, scientists decided to use New Horizons instruments to determine how far the universe is really bright. Even after filtering out all known light sources, NPR reports, about half of the light has remained – revealing either an unknown phenomenon, the limitations of our technology, or both.

Star Bright

The light from all known sources in the cosmos was roughly equivalent to all that was left, according to the team’s research, which was accepted for publication by The astrophysical journal. It could mean that there are more galaxies out there that are too far away or too dark for our telescopes to detect. Or, as study co-author and Space Telescope Science Institute astronomer Marc Postman put it NPR, there might be “another source of light that we don’t yet know what it is.”

Basically, there is a possibility that there is an unexplained background glow in the cosmos.

Major Account

“They say there is as much light outside galaxies as there is inside galaxies, which is a pretty hard pill to swallow, frankly,” said Michael Zemcov, astrophysicist at the Rochester Institute of Technology. . NPR.

Zemcov hasn’t worked on the new study, but he has conducted similar research in the past and says the new findings are credible. This pill he mentioned has more to do with accepting that astronomers have so badly missed the mark rather than skepticism.

“It’s very hard to turn around and say to the astronomical community, like, ‘Hey, guys, we’re missing half of the stuff over there,’” he said. NPR.

READ MORE: Scientists find outer space isn’t dark after all [NPR]

More on the space: NASA detects bright flashes of light on Jupiter

[ad_2]

Source link