Astrophysicists say they have detected the brightest and most distant natural ‘space laser’ ever observed, produced by a violent collision between two galaxies billions of light-years from Earth
The powerful emission, known as a gigamaser, was discovered using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
Scientists say the signal originated from a galactic merger roughly eight billion light-years away.
The phenomenon occurs when gas compressed during the collision stimulates hydroxyl molecules to emit intense microwave radiation at a specific wavelength.
Although often associated with science fiction, such emissions are real astrophysical phenomena related to the same process behind lasers.
The newly detected object, designated HATLAS J142935.3–002836, is so powerful that researchers classify it as a gigamaser – a rare type of laser that can be billions of times brighter than typical cosmic masers.
Its signal was strengthened by a cosmic alignment known as gravitational lensing, in which the gravity of a foreground galaxy bends and magnifies light from objects behind it.
Dr Thato Manamela, the lead author of the new study, said: ‘This system is truly extraordinary.
‘We are seeing the radio equivalent of a laser halfway across the universe.’
Dr Manamela, who is based at the University of Pretoria, added that the another galaxy acting like a telescope made the event especially remarkable.
‘Not only that, during its journey to Earth, the radio waves are further amplified by a perfectly aligned, yet unrelated foreground galaxy,’ he continued.
‘This galaxy acts as a lens, the way a water droplet on a window pane would, because its mass curves the local space-time.
‘So we have a radio laser passing through a cosmic telescope before being detected by the powerful MeerKAT radio telescope – all together enabling a wonderfully serendipitous discovery.’
Natural masers can arise in a variety of astrophysical environments, including star-forming regions, cometary atmospheres and the remnants of exploding stars.
Much stronger emissions, known as megamasers, are typically associated with extreme events such as galaxy mergers or activity around supermassive black holes.
The newly identified gigamaser is thought to have formed as two galaxies merged into one, compressing vast clouds of gas and triggering intense bursts of star formation. Radiation from these newborn stars stimulates nearby hydroxyl molecules, amplifying their microwave emissions.
The light detected by MeerKAT travelled about 7.8 billion light-years to reach Earth, surpassing the previous distance record of roughly five billion light-years for such an object.
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