Signal from space! Mysterious radio signal detected by astronomers

Wondering if there is life outside planet Earth? A recent signal received from a distant galaxy could help answer the question.

The radio signal originated from an extremely far away galaxy. (Pixabay)

In an astonishing development, astronomers have announced the remarkable discovery of a signal received from a distant galaxy. Just last year, intense bursts of radio waves were detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia, Canada. Now, another signal has been detected by astronomers which could mark a major breakthrough in the search for extraterrestrial life and has the potential to greatly expand our understanding of the universe.

According to Deccan Herald, astronomers from McGill University in Canada and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) detected a radio signal originating from atomic hydrogen in an extremely distant galaxy. This signal was detected using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) which is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes located in Pune, India.

According to IISC, the distance travelled by the signal is the “largest so far by a large margin” and was transmitted when the universe was only 4.9 billion years old. This discovery and its findings have been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Arnab Chakraborty, postdoctoral researcher at the McGill University said,” It's the equivalent to a look-back in time of 8.8 billion years.”

Nirupam Roy, associate professor, department of Physics, IISc said,” Gravitational lensing magnifies the signal coming from a distant object to help us peer into the early universe. In this specific case, the signal is bent by the presence of another massive body, another galaxy, between the target and the observer. This effectively results in the magnification of the signal by a factor of 30, allowing the telescope to pick it up.”

The discovery of the signal is a cause for excitement and speculation among scientists and the general public alike, with hope that it could be a message from an extraterrestrial civilization.