Seven billion age ago , a sinister hole at the center of a distant extragalactic nebula emitted a spectacular volley of vigor . Astronomers missed their chance to study this event right as a issue of encumbrance from the Moon . Eleven days later , however , a different form of interference gave them another opportunity , and they lead full advantage . It marked the first time such a distant outcome has been read using the highest - energy telescope we have .
On July 14 , 2014 , the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi satellite picked up signs of an flare-up coming from a blazar call QSO B0218 + 357 , a grim trap aligned in such a way that the brilliant jet it sometimes emits are visible from Earth . The result was so substantial that gamma - electron beam scope dropped their planned observations and turned their attention to this result .
Unfortunately for theMAGIC telescopeon Canary Island , this was just two days after the full Moon . Although the Moon does n’t utter high - energy da Gamma ray , scattered moonlight does overwhelm its detectors so it ca n’t pick up anything else .
Fortunately , in almost the exact direction of QSO B0218 + 357 , consist a galaxy with the bewilderingly similar name B0218 + 357G. Light from the blazar has to pass close enough to B0218 + 357 G to be affect by its sombreness . The light from QSO B0218 + 357 gets break into two beams . Both finally extend to Earth , but one takes a slightly more roundabout route , and therefore arrives slimly later .
Astronomers at MAGIC calculated the rerun would screen 11 days later , and had the telescope , along with several others that work in the lower push part of the Vasco da Gamma - irradiation spectrum , all adjust to go . Given the length of the lunar cycle , moonlight was never move to be an issue this clock time . The watching have now been describe inAstronomy and Astrophysics .
Even by the standards of da Gamma - beam telescopes , MAGIC operates at the extremes . The photons it observes stock energies from 25 billion negatron volts up to 30 trillion electron volts . The top end is lodge of magnitude more energetic than those Fermi watch , and trillions of times the I our center can observe .
For the Brobdingnagian squad that get part in observing the QSO B0218 + 357 tumultuous disturbance and analyzing the data point , this was a big footstep onwards . " This was the first time we were able to observe that high - energy photons were deflected by a gravitational lens , ” say trail writer Dr Julian Sitarek of the University of Lodz , Poland , in astatement .
Moreover , the event represents the furthest we have seen at these wavelength . high-pitched - energy gamma rays are disperse on their path , and until now we have only been able to form images from those within about 4 billion lightsome - years of us . " With the MAGIC observation , the part of the universe that we can mention via gamma ray has doubled,”saidco - writer Dr Razmik Mirzoyan of the Max Planck Institute for Physics . The observations may touch the design of future high - vigor gamma - re telescopes .
lastly , the fact that the differences in arrival time between the two beams correspond so perfectly with astronomers ' predictions is important in itself . The calculations were done using theory that remain unproven , and their success in this case increases the probability they are right .
The MAGIC telescopes on Canary Island detect the gleam give off when high - energy da Gamma shaft of light hit the upper atmosphere . Robert Wagner
