Using Einstein’s theory of relativity to enhance the capabilities of the advanced ALMA telescope array located in Chile, scientists have managed to reveal an ancient and invisible object in the universe.
According to Live Science, this is an image of the universe from 11 billion years ago, capturing a young and invisible galaxy at all wavelengths. It is a literal ghost because, in real-time, this galaxy could have aged significantly or may no longer exist.
To achieve this “time-traveling” moment, scientists utilized Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which indicates that massive objects—such as galaxies or giant stars—can create a certain “curvature” in spacetime due to their enormous gravitational fields.
The radio image of the “ghost” galaxy captured by a spectacular spacetime “bend” – (Photo: SISSA)
A team of scientists from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Italy exploited this phenomenon to act as a “magnifying glass” for the universe, utilizing an effect known as “gravitational lensing” which significantly amplifies the capabilities of ALMA, already a powerful radio telescope array.
Thanks to this “bending” of spacetime, the precious image captured by ALMA revealed the faint outline of a galaxy that would otherwise be invisible.
At the moment of observation, this galaxy was very young and forming stars at a rate 1,000 times that of our Milky Way galaxy.
“Distant galaxies like this one, young and small, are characterized by intense star formation, largely obscured by dust and containing a rich reservoir of molecular gas, which is the precursor to the giant, inactive galaxies we see in our closer regions of the universe,” said co-author and astrophysicist Andrea Lapi from SISSA.
Galaxies like the “ghost” recently recorded also provide particularly valuable insights into the processes leading to the formation and evolution of structures in today’s universe.
