Most distant radio galaxy discovered beams signals from 12 billion light-years away

An international team of astronomers has detected the most distant radio galaxy ever observed. By measuring the redshift of its light, the researchers determined that the object is about 12 billion light-years away, which dates it back to when the universe itself was just a kid.

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Redshift of z = 5.72

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift

Currently, the objects with the highest known redshifts are galaxies and the objects producing gamma ray bursts. The most reliable redshifts are from spectroscopic data, and the highest confirmed spectroscopic redshift of a galaxy is that of GN-z11, with a redshift of z = 11.1, corresponding to 400 million years after the Big Bang. The previous record was held by UDFy-38135539 at a redshift of z = 8.6, corresponding to 600 million years after the Big Bang. Slightly less reliable are Lyman-break redshifts, the highest of which is the lensed galaxy A1689-zD1 at a redshift z = 7.5 and the next highest being z = 7.0. The most distant observed gamma-ray burst with a spectroscopic redshift measurement was GRB 090423, which had a redshift of z = 8.2. The most distant known quasar, ULAS J1342+0928, is at z = 7.54. The highest known redshift radio galaxy (TN J0924-2201) is at a redshift z = 5.2 and the highest known redshift molecular material is the detection of emission from the CO molecule from the quasar SDSS J1148+5251 at z = 6.42

Extremely red objects (EROs) are astronomical sources of radiation that radiate energy in the red and near infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. These may be starburst galaxies that have a high redshift accompanied by reddening from intervening dust, or they could be highly redshifted elliptical galaxies with an older (and therefore redder) stellar population. Objects that are even redder than EROs are termed hyper extremely red objects (HEROs).

The cosmic microwave background has a redshift of z = 1089, corresponding to an age of approximately 379,000 years after the Big Bang and a comoving distance of more than 46 billion light years. The yet-to-be-observed first light from the oldest Population III stars, not long after atoms first formed and the CMB ceased to be absorbed almost completely, may have redshifts in the range of 20 < z < 100. Other high-redshift events predicted by physics but not presently observable are the cosmic neutrino background from about two seconds after the Big Bang (and a redshift in excess of z > 1010) and the cosmic gravitational wave background emitted directly from inflation at a redshift in excess of z > 1025.

In June 2015, astronomers reported evidence for Population III stars in the Cosmos Redshift 7 galaxy at z = 6.60. Such stars are likely to have existed in the very early universe (i.e., at high redshift), and may have started the production of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen that are needed for the later formation of planets and life as we know it.

Tau.Neutrino said:

Redshift of z = 5.72

Thanks for the redshift.

“The particular radio galaxy has been named TGSS J1530+1049, and it was initially discovered using the Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India. Then measured the redshift of the galaxy’s light to determine how far away it is, using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.”

A discovery from India, that’s unusual. LBT is also unusual.

“It was believed that it would generally take longer for the supermassive black holes at their centers to develop, but this find is just the latest to suggest that it must happen quicker than previously thought.”

Quasar-like. The real question has been how much of a role dark matter has played in quasar development. I’m reading the abstract now and it’s quite interesting for other reasons. For starters, its identification as a galaxy is based on NON-DETECTION by optical telescopes.

And “TGSS J1530+1049 is comparable to non-radio Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at a similar redshift. However, with a radio luminosity of log L150 MHz = 29.1 W Hz−1 and a deconvolved physical size 3.5 kpc, its radio properties are similar to other known radio galaxies at z > 4.”

So it’s the missing link between galaxies and Lyman alpha emitters. Nice.

mollwollfumble said:

. I’m reading the abstract now and it’s quite interesting for other reasons. For starters, its identification as a galaxy is based on NON-DETECTION by optical telescopes.

And “TGSS J1530+1049 is comparable to non-radio Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at a similar redshift. However, with a radio luminosity of log L150 MHz = 29.1 W Hz−1 and a deconvolved physical size 3.5 kpc, its radio properties are similar to other known radio galaxies at z > 4.”

So it’s the missing link between galaxies and Lyman alpha emitters. Nice.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman-alpha_emitter

A Lyman-alpha emitter (LAE) is a type of distant galaxy that emits Lyman-alpha radiation. They are thought to be the progenitors of most modern Milky Way type galaxies. Lyman-alpha emitters are typically low mass galaxies of 10^8 or 10^10 solar masses. They are typically young galaxies that are 200 to 600 million years old, and they have the highest specific star formation rate of any galaxies known. All of these properties indicate that Lyman-alpha emitters are important clues as to the progentiors of modern Milky Way type galaxies.

The wavelength is interesting. The Lyman—alpha line comes from hydrogen and occurs in the UV part of the spectrum. But because of the redshift this is moved to longer wavelengths, but how far? Not seen in infrared J and K bands. But not far enough for radio wavelengths. Calculate it, 0.8 microns at that redshift, that makes it near-infrared.