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posted by martyb on Wednesday February 20 2019, @01:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the check-what-happens-when-i-point-this-laser-pointer-at-that-telescope dept.

Using radio astronomy, over 200 astronomers hailing from 18 different countries have gathered over 20 petabyes of data and published a new map of the night sky that has over 300,000 previously undiscovered galaxies in it.

In-depth coverage here. Mainstream articles here and here.

Good Video Fly through the LOFAR Survey radio Universe. LOFAR image gallery here

The team used the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the Netherlands to pick up traces -- or "jets" -- of ancient radiation produced when galaxies merge. These jets, previously undetected, can extend over millions of light years.

"With radio observations we can detect radiation from the tenuous medium that exists between galaxies," said Amanda Wilber, of the University of Hamburg.

"LOFAR allows us to detect many more of these sources and understand what is powering them."

These jets occur near the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies.

These detections are only the beginning however, so buckle in and prep for lightspeed

The LOFAR telescope, which is made up of a network of radio antenna located across seven European countries, has helped scientists chart just just 2 percent of the sky so far. The team plans to create high-resolution images of the entire northern sky, which they say will reveal up to 15 million previously undetected radio sources.

Too bad it can't focus in on Proxima Centauri.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @05:11PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @05:11PM (#804053)

    So many galaxies but nothing out there worth visiting.

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday February 20 2019, @06:18PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday February 20 2019, @06:18PM (#804085) Journal

    We've barely scratched the surface on what kinds of exoplanets exist in our own galaxy. Millions of them could be habitable by humans and/or currently inhabited by life forms. We have no idea whether or not other galaxies are worth visiting, because we don't have the technology to visit them or see their contents in detail.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @06:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @06:25PM (#804090)

      I will grant you the power to live anywhere in the Universe.

      GUARONTEEED you will be back here, almost dead, within a month.

      You hoomaans are SOOOOO weak and addicted to your USELESS oxygen and gravity and temperature and pressure and water and food groups and low radiation and microbial codependencies and socialization and minerals and trace elements. PATHETIC!