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Humanity received a 10-second signal from deep space
Humanity has recorded a 10-second burst of high energy originating from one of the most distant regions of the universe. Two satellites confirmed that the signal originated from a point approximately 13 billion light-years from Earth, likely an echo of a supernova explosion that occurred when the universe was only 730 million years old.
The Daily Mail reported this.
What is known about GRB 250314A, and why does it surprise scientists?
Researchers have linked the event to a gamma-ray burst called GRB 250314A. Gamma rays are invisible, extremely powerful forms of radiation that occur during the explosions of massive stars and manifest as very bright, yet short, flashes.
The farther away the source is, the longer it takes for the light or signal to reach us. Therefore, observing such distant events shows us what happened billions of years ago. In this case, scientists suggest that this is one of the oldest supernovae ever recorded.
The signal was first detected on March 14, 2025, by the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) satellite as a sudden burst of high energy.
According to scientists, the flash lasted about 10 seconds, which is typical for gamma-ray bursts. These bursts release enormous amounts of energy in an instant and quickly fade away. Unlike background cosmic "noise," such events are distinguished by a sharp, focused signal with a characteristic profile that equipment can recognize.
Although gamma rays can be dangerous to living organisms, in this case, they were too weak upon reaching Earth to pose a threat.
About three and a half months after the initial detection, the James Webb Space Telescope confirmed the discovery by recording the fading afterglow of the explosion and taking measurements indicating the nature of the event. Only a few such gamma-ray bursts have been detected over the past 50 years in the first billion years of the universe's existence, making this case very rare.
Scientists are most surprised that if the source of the signal was a supernova in the early universe, its characteristics are nearly identical to those of "modern" stellar explosions observed closer to us. NASA and ESA researchers would have expected early stars to be larger and hotter and to produce much more unstable explosions.
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