A lot of theories exist about the early dark days of the universe, but Chinese scientists have found a new way to get a glimpse into that period. The Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths (DSL) mission, which is also called Hongmeng, will be sending around ten satellites to orbit around the world in order to pick different cosmic signals. The satellites will also block the electromagnetic interference from humans on earth to completely understand the cosmos in a better way.

The mission, led by Chen Xuelei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and his team of researchers, was approved by Chinese Academy of Sciences' New Horizons Program.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-shares-rare-pictures-of-record-summer-melting-in-svalbard-norways-ice-covered-archipelago-504528" hreflang="en">NASA shares rare pictures of record summer melting in Svalbard, Norway’s ice-covered archipelago</a>

This was among a number of projects covering topics like “astronomy, exploration, Earth science, heliophysics and exoplanet missions”, according to media reports.

During the initial days of the earth, there was&nbsp;“faint, stretched out, ultra-long wavelength light emitted by hydrogen atoms” which were created from the Big Bang, according to South China Morning Post. Those signals will be collected by nine out of the ten satellites.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/french-authorities-to-inject-vitamins-into-beluga-whale-stranded-in-seine-river-504463" hreflang="en">French authorities to inject vitamins into beluga whale stranded in Seine River</a>

While it is extremely difficult to collect the signals near earth due to ionosphere, the mother satellite will be storing the data from the other satellites while orbiting on the far side of the moon.

“The proposal is an innovative alternative to the much more costly and technically challenging route of setting permanent telescopes on the surface of the lunar far side,”&nbsp;Wu Ji, a senior Chinese space scientist, told the South China Morning Post.

A lot of theories exist about the early dark days of the universe, but Chinese scientists have found a new way to get a glimpse into that period. The Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths (DSL) mission, which is also called Hongmeng, will be sending around ten satellites to orbit around the world in order to pick different cosmic signals.

A lot of theories exist about the early dark days of the universe, but Chinese scientists have found a new way to get a glimpse into that period. The Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths (DSL) mission, which is also called Hongmeng, will be sending around ten satellites to orbit around the world in order to pick different cosmic signals. The satellites will also block the electromagnetic interference from humans on earth to completely understand the cosmos in a better way. The mission, led by Chen Xuelei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and his team of researchers, was approved by Chinese Academy of Sciences' New Horizons Program. Also read | NASA shares rare pictures of record summer melting in Svalbard, Norway’s ice-covered archipelago This was among a number of projects covering topics like “astronomy, exploration, Earth science, heliophysics and exoplanet missions”, according to media reports. During the initial days of the earth, there was “faint, stretched out, ultra-long wavelength light emitted by hydrogen atoms” which were created from the Big Bang, according to South China Morning Post. Those signals will be collected by nine out of the ten satellites. Also read | French authorities to inject vitamins into beluga whale stranded in Seine River While it is extremely difficult to collect the signals near earth due to ionosphere, the mother satellite will be storing the data from the other satellites while orbiting on the far side of the moon. “The proposal is an innovative alternative to the much more costly and technically challenging route of setting permanent telescopes on the surface of the lunar far side,” Wu Ji, a senior Chinese space scientist, told the South China Morning Post.

Chinese scientists looking to use lunar satellites to understand initial days of earth

Scientists announced Wednesday the discovery of a&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole,&nbsp;the oldest ever detected,&nbsp;that shouldn't even exist according to the current understanding of cosmic monsters so dense not even light can escape their gravitational pull.

Born of a merger between two other&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes, GW190521 weighs in at 142 times the mass of our Sun and is the first "intermediate mass"&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole&nbsp;ever observed, two consortiums of some 1,500 scientists reported in a pair of studies.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9IdVyArDlZ4" width="560"></iframe>

"This event is a door opening into the cosmic process for the formation of&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes," co-author Stavros Katsanevas, an astrophysicist at the European Gravitational Observatory, said in an online press conference.&nbsp;"It is a whole new world."

<img alt="Italy" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="12d6ce8b-7b66-4c5d-b9cf-b4264f94406a" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/_114205594_8a6215f1-3be5-49a9-b8f2-cbc216422fe7.jpg" />

In picture: The European VIRGO laser lab is based in Italy's province of Pisa/(Image:Ligo-Virgo collaboration)

A so-called stellar-class&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole&nbsp;forms when a dying star collapses, and is typically three to ten solar masses in size.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Supermassive&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes found at the centre of most galaxies, including the Milky Way, range from millions to billions of&nbsp;solar masses.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/asteroid-bigger-than-great-pyramid-of-giza-to-hit-earths-orbit-this-week-324461">Asteroid bigger than Great Pyramid of Giza to hit Earth's orbit this week</a>

Up to now,&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes with mass 100 to 1,000 times that of our Sun had never been found.

"This is the first evidence of a&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole&nbsp;in this mass range," said co-author Michaela, an astrophysicist at the University of Padova and a member of the Europe-based Virgo Collaboration.&nbsp;

"It may lead to a paradigm shift in the astrophysics of&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes."&nbsp;

The findings, she added, support the idea that supermassive&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes could be formed through the repeated merger of these mid-sized bodies.&nbsp;

What scientists actually observed were gravitational waves produced more than seven billion years ago when GW190521 was formed by the collision of two smaller&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes of 85 and 65 solar masses.

When they smashed together, eight solar masses worth of energy was released, creating one of the most powerful events in the Universe since the Big Bang.&nbsp;

Gravitational waves were first measured in September 2015, earning the lead researchers a physics Nobel two years later.

Albert Einstein anticipated gravitational waves in his general theory of relativity, which theorised that they spread through the Universe at the speed of light.

Challenge to current models&nbsp;

GW190521 was detected on May 21, 2019 by three interferometers, which can measure a change thousands of times smaller than an atomic nucleus as gravitational waves pass Earth.

According to current knowledge, the gravitational collapse of a star cannot form&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes in the range of 60 to 120 solar masses because, at that size,&nbsp;the stars are completely blown apart by the supernova explosion that accompanies collapse.

And yet, the two&nbsp;black&nbsp;holes that gave rise to GW190521 were both in the range.

"This event is a challenge for the current models of&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole&nbsp;formation," said Mapelli.

It is also a hint of how much is still not known.

"This detection confirms that there is a vast universe that has remained invisible to us," said Karan Jani, an astrophysicist with the Nobel-winning LIGO gravitational wave experiment.

"We have very limited theoretical and observational understanding of this elusive class of intermediate&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole."

But the very fact it could be detected is itself remarkable.

"Our ability to find a&nbsp;black&nbsp;hole&nbsp;a few hundred kilometres-wide from half-way across the Universe is one of the most striking realisations of this discovery," Jani added.

The two studies were published in Physical Review Letters, and Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) consortium is led by scientists at MIT and Caltech, while the Virgo collaboration includes more than 500 scientists across Europe.

Scientists announced Wednesday the discovery of a black hole, the oldest ever detected, that shouldn't even exist according to the current understanding of cosmic monsters so dense not even light can escape their gravitational pull.

Scientists announced Wednesday the discovery of a black hole, the oldest ever detected, that shouldn't even exist according to the current understanding of cosmic monsters so dense not even light can escape their gravitational pull. Born of a merger between two other black holes, GW190521 weighs in at 142 times the mass of our Sun and is the first "intermediate mass" black hole ever observed, two consortiums of some 1,500 scientists reported in a pair of studies. "This event is a door opening into the cosmic process for the formation of black holes," co-author Stavros Katsanevas, an astrophysicist at the European Gravitational Observatory, said in an online press conference. "It is a whole new world." In picture: The European VIRGO laser lab is based in Italy's province of Pisa/(Image:Ligo-Virgo collaboration) A so-called stellar-class black hole forms when a dying star collapses, and is typically three to ten solar masses in size. Supermassive black holes found at the centre of most galaxies, including the Milky Way, range from millions to billions of solar masses. Also read: Asteroid bigger than Great Pyramid of Giza to hit Earth's orbit this week Up to now, black holes with mass 100 to 1,000 times that of our Sun had never been found. "This is the first evidence of a black hole in this mass range," said co-author Michaela, an astrophysicist at the University of Padova and a member of the Europe-based Virgo Collaboration. "It may lead to a paradigm shift in the astrophysics of black holes." The findings, she added, support the idea that supermassive black holes could be formed through the repeated merger of these mid-sized bodies. What scientists actually observed were gravitational waves produced more than seven billion years ago when GW190521 was formed by the collision of two smaller black holes of 85 and 65 solar masses. When they smashed together, eight solar masses worth of energy was released, creating one of the most powerful events in the Universe since the Big Bang. Gravitational waves were first measured in September 2015, earning the lead researchers a physics Nobel two years later. Albert Einstein anticipated gravitational waves in his general theory of relativity, which theorised that they spread through the Universe at the speed of light. Challenge to current models GW190521 was detected on May 21, 2019 by three interferometers, which can measure a change thousands of times smaller than an atomic nucleus as gravitational waves pass Earth. According to current knowledge, the gravitational collapse of a star cannot form black holes in the range of 60 to 120 solar masses because, at that size, the stars are completely blown apart by the supernova explosion that accompanies collapse. And yet, the two black holes that gave rise to GW190521 were both in the range. "This event is a challenge for the current models of black hole formation," said Mapelli. It is also a hint of how much is still not known. "This detection confirms that there is a vast universe that has remained invisible to us," said Karan Jani, an astrophysicist with the Nobel-winning LIGO gravitational wave experiment. "We have very limited theoretical and observational understanding of this elusive class of intermediate black hole." But the very fact it could be detected is itself remarkable. "Our ability to find a black hole a few hundred kilometres-wide from half-way across the Universe is one of the most striking realisations of this discovery," Jani added. The two studies were published in Physical Review Letters, and Astrophysical Journal Letters. The LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) consortium is led by scientists at MIT and Caltech, while the Virgo collaboration includes more than 500 scientists across Europe.

Astronomers detect most powerful black hole explosion ever

cosmic-signal

Cosmic Signal, News on Cosmic Signal, stories on Cosmic Signal, articles on Cosmic Signal, Cosmic Signal stories at Wion, Cosmic Signal news, Cosmic Signal latest news