AFP, Paris :
A signal from the Universe’s first stars, born a cosmic heartbeat after the Big Bang, has been detected for the first time, astronomers said Wednesday, setting the science world aflutter.
The observation came after a decade-long quest, years earlier than expected, and was described by one excited observer as the biggest astronomical breakthrough since the Nobel-capped detection of gravitational waves in 2015.
The findings have to be confirmed by other experiments.
Crucially, it is hoped the discovery will shed light on dark matter-an invisible, mysterious substance thought to make up a large share of the Universe.
“Finding this miniscule signal has opened a new window on the early Universe,” said Arizona State University astronomer Judd Bowman, the project’s lead investigator.
“Telescopes cannot see far enough to directly image such ancient stars, but we’ve seen when they turned on”-that is, sparked to life-“in radio waves arriving from space.”
A signal from the Universe’s first stars, born a cosmic heartbeat after the Big Bang, has been detected for the first time, astronomers said Wednesday, setting the science world aflutter.
The observation came after a decade-long quest, years earlier than expected, and was described by one excited observer as the biggest astronomical breakthrough since the Nobel-capped detection of gravitational waves in 2015.
The findings have to be confirmed by other experiments.
Crucially, it is hoped the discovery will shed light on dark matter-an invisible, mysterious substance thought to make up a large share of the Universe.
“Finding this miniscule signal has opened a new window on the early Universe,” said Arizona State University astronomer Judd Bowman, the project’s lead investigator.
“Telescopes cannot see far enough to directly image such ancient stars, but we’ve seen when they turned on”-that is, sparked to life-“in radio waves arriving from space.”
