MeerKAT Telescope Detects Most Distant Cosmic Laser from Merging Galaxies
South African astronomers have identified the most distant and luminous hydroxyl megamaser, HATLAS J142935.3–002836, located over eight billion light-years away.
Astronomers utilizing South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope have detected the most distant and luminous hydroxyl megamaser to date, designated HATLAS J142935.3–002836. This system, situated over eight billion light-years from Earth, is observed as it was when the universe was less than half its current age.
Hydroxyl megamasers are intense radio emissions produced when hydroxyl molecules in gas-rich, merging galaxies collide, amplifying radio waves at a wavelength of approximately 18 centimeters. The emissions are so powerful that they can be detected across vast cosmic distances.
The discovery was facilitated by the combined sensitivity of MeerKAT and the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, where the gravity of a foreground galaxy magnifies and bends the light from a more distant source. This alignment allowed the detection of the megamaser's signal despite its immense distance.
Dr. Thato Manamela, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pretoria and lead author of the study, described the system as "truly extraordinary." He noted that the radio waves were further amplified by a perfectly aligned, yet unrelated foreground galaxy, acting as a lens due to its mass curving the local space-time.
The findings have been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.