Oldest radio-wave explosion ever found could be used to weigh the universe, astronomers say

Astronomers have discovered the most ancient"heartbeat" radio signal, and they want to use it to find the missing half of the universe's matter.

As the fast radio burst is 1.5 times more ancient and distant than the previous record holder, its light could be used to find an approximate weight to the universe — and perhaps to figure out where half of its matter went, astronomers say. The researchers published their findings Oct. 19 in the journal Nature.

The problem, however, is that these methods disagree, creating a discrepancy called the Sigma-8 tension that threatens to tear standard theories of cosmology apart. Where the missing matter could be isn't certain, but astronomers have a hunch it is floating in intergalactic space in vast, diffuse clouds of gas and dust. But to measure these clouds, astronomers need powerful sources of light.

As FRB pulses move through space, the matter they move through separates out the light pulse’s different frequencies, producing a lag between the arrival of the high and low frequencies in the signal. From the length of this delay, astronomers can figure out how much matter the burst has moved through.

Source: Education Headlines (educationheadlines.net)

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