Who sent the mysterious signal to humans from 9 billion light years away? The Milky Way was there even 8.8 billion years ago

This signal means that astronomers will be able to peer into the secrets of the early universe. This means that this galaxy existed when the universe was just 4.9 billion years old. Arnab Chakraborty, a cosmologist and co-author of a study on the discovery, told Metro.co.uk that this equates to looking back 8.8 billion years in time. This is the first time such a radio signal has been detected over such a large distance.

Discovery made with the help of meterwave radio telescope

Chakraborty said that many types of radio signals emanate from a galaxy. Until now it was only possible to capture this particular signal from nearby galaxies, limiting our knowledge to galaxies close to Earth. In India and Montreal, researchers were able to capture these signals with the help of a giant meterwave radio telescope.

What is Gravitational Lensing?

The discovery has been announced in the Royal Astronomical Society Journal. This signal was observed at record-breaking distances thanks to a natural phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. Co-author Nirupam Roy said that gravitational lensing magnifies the signal coming from a very distant source to give us a peek into the early universe.

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