Astronomers have detected a vast cloud of energetic particles — a ‘mini-halo’ — around one of the most distant galaxy clusters, according to a new study. This mini-halo lies so far away that its light takes about 10 billion years to reach Earth, making it the most distant mini-halo ever discovered to date and doubling the previous distance record. The finding suggests that even in the very early universe, massive galaxy clusters were already filled with high-energy particles. The international research team was co-led by Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo and Roland Timmerman.
Faint radio glow reveals mini-halo
According to the study, the team used the European Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope to study the distant cluster SpARCS1049. LOFAR – a network of over 100,000 antennas spread across eight European countries – captured an extremely faint, diffuse radio signal surrounding the cluster. This glow stretches over a million light-years, revealing a giant “mini-halo” of high-energy particles and magnetic fields.
Analysis showed the emission filled the space between galaxies rather than coming from any single galaxy. The cluster’s light took 10 billion years to reach us, doubling the distance record for any known mini-halo. Co-leader of the reasearch Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo describes it as a vast cosmic ocean,in which entire galaxy clusters are constantly immersed in high-energy particles.Astronomers have detected a vast cloud of energetic particles — a ‘mini-halo’ — around one of the most distant galaxy clusters, according to a new study. This mini-halo lies so far away that its light takes about 10 billion years to reach Earth, making it the most distant mini-halo ever discovered to date and doubling the previous distance record. The finding suggests that even in the very early universe, massive galaxy clusters were already filled with high-energy particles. The international research team was co-led by Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo and Roland Timmerman.
Faint radio glow reveals mini-halo
According to the study, the team used the European Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope to study the distant cluster SpARCS1049. LOFAR – a network of over 100,000 antennas spread across eight European countries – captured an extremely faint, diffuse radio signal surrounding the cluster. This glow stretches over a million light-years, revealing a giant “mini-halo” of high-energy particles and magnetic fields.
Analysis showed the emission filled the space between galaxies rather than coming from any single galaxy. The cluster’s light took 10 billion years to reach us, doubling the distance record for any known mini-halo. Co-leader of the reasearch Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo describes it as a vast cosmic ocean,in which entire galaxy clusters are constantly immersed in high-energy particles.
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