Astronomers have discovered the most distant structure of high-energy particles — a mini-halo surrounding a galaxy cluster that formed just 4 billion years after the Big Bang. This discovery overturns our understanding of the evolution of galaxy clusters and testifies to the incredible energy of the early universe.
Previously, it was believed that such powerful structures as mini-halos — huge clouds of particles moving at nearly the speed of light and emitting radio waves — arose much later in cosmic history. However, a weak radio signal stretching across a million light years around the SPARCS1049 cluster proved the opposite.
“It’s as if we’ve found a huge cosmic ocean where entire clusters of galaxies are constantly immersed in high-energy particles,” explains researcher Hlavacek-Larrondo.
LOFAR telescope
The halo was detected at an incredible distance of 10 billion light years thanks to the revolutionary Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). This network of 100,000 radio antennas in eight European countries has unprecedented sensitivity. It helped to “see” the object whose light began its journey to us when the universe was less than a third of its current age. Weak but enormous radio emissions, 10 times greater than those of the Milky Way, originated precisely from the space between the galaxy clusters, rather than from the clusters themselves.
New window into the early Universe
Where did these particles come from? Scientists propose two scenarios. The first is that supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies eject powerful jets of matter. Second, particles in the hot gas of the cluster collide at relativistic speeds, producing even more energetic particles. Both hypotheses pose a mystery: how do particles manage to travel enormous distances without losing energy?
“It’s amazing to find such a strong signal so far away. This means that these processes have been forming clusters almost since the beginning of the universe,” says researcher Roland Timmerman.
This discovery is key to understanding the early universe. It proves that powerful forces — black holes and high-energy physics — have influenced galaxy clusters since the earliest stages of their existence. Questions remain: the role of magnetic fields, mechanisms of energy transfer over gigantic distances. The future giant Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope will answer these questions.
“This discovery shows how black holes and particles control the growth of clusters,” concludes Hlavacek-Larrondo. The universe of youth turns out to be much more turbulent than we thought.
Earlier, we reported on how scientists managed to recreate the conditions of the first microseconds after the Big Bang.
According to interestingengineering.com
