Astronomers have obtained some of the finest detailed never-before-seen pictures of galaxies in deep space. They have far better definitions than the typical and offer unparalleled insight as regards the inner workings of galaxies.
Many of the photos might provide light on the function of black holes in creating stars and planets. The image, according to the researchers, will revolutionize the studies of how galaxies grow.
Photos released by LOFAR, according to ITV, show the galaxies releasing radio waves. Radio waves from celestial objects are commonly studied rather than the visible light they emit.
They allow researchers to observe features that would otherwise get obscured by the Earth's atmosphere or dust and gas in distant galaxies. Many areas of space that appear black to our eyes glow brilliantly when viewed through radio waves. These radio waves enable astronomers to see into star-forming regions and galaxies' cores.
Supercomputers Can Help Process Super Images
What is new is that the team has linked together over 70,000 tiny antennae distributed across nine European countries to increase the resolution of radio pictures substantially. The technique of combining radio signals from so many antennae is not simple.
The researchers spent six years creating a whole new method of gathering the information from each antenna, digitizing it, transferring it to a central processor, and then integrating all of the data into scientifically interesting and stunning visuals.
Social Post said that Low Frequency Array, LOFAR uses radio frequencies in the 10MHz to 240MHz frequency band, which several scientists previously ignored. Dr. Leah Morabito of Durham University in the United Kingdom spearheaded the achievement, which became a technological triumph.
Morabito told WIONews that the scientific community would be able to use the whole European network of LOFAR telescopes for their own research without spending years becoming an expert.
Understanding Black Holes
According to the same WIONews report, a galaxy's vast expanse between star systems is not completely devoid of matter. The interstellar medium is a stew of materials and radiation found in low densities, primarily gas. Galaxies are encircled by incredibly dense black holes with strong gravitational forces that even light cannot escape.
Many galaxies have supermassive black holes lurking in their cores. Most of them are 'active' black holes, which eat in-falling stuff and spit it out as strong jets and outflows of radiation into the cosmos.
These jets are undetectable to the human eye, but they emit brilliant radio waves, on which the new high-resolution pictures have focused.
The University of Manchester's Dr. Neal Jackson told Phys.org that these high-resolution photos allow us to zoom in to observe what is happening when supermassive black holes fire radio jets, which were not feasible before at frequencies around the FM radio band.
The team's work is the foundation for nine scientific investigations that disclose new details about the inner structure of radio jets in a variety of galaxies.
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