Astronomers discovered a huge cloud surrounding a cluster of galaxies that its light took 10 billion years to reach Earth, thus unparalleled understanding of how the early universe was shaped by powerful cosmic forces.
This “mini halo” doubles the distance recording of this structure and shows that the high-energy process is much earlier than scientists had previously imagined.
The discovery centers on SPARCS1049, a cluster of galaxies at the time when the universe was smaller than a quarter of its current age. Using Europe’s low-frequency array (Lofar) radio telescope network, the researchers detected a faint but extensive radio signal, over a million light-years, rather than a single galaxy, but from energy particles that fill the space between them.
The ocean of energy in the universe
“It seems like we’ve discovered a huge cosmic ocean, with the entire cluster of galaxies constantly immersed in high-energy particles,” said Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo of the University of Montreal, who led the study with Roland Timmerman of Durham University at Durham.
The mini halo consists of charged particles moving through a magnetic field in low-rays, creating radio emissions that the telescope can detect over billions of light years. So far, astronomers have only been able to observe these structures in relatively nearby universes, making this ancient example a key window for cosmic evolution.
The team analyzed data from the Lofar network, which spans over 100,000 small antennas in eight European countries. The measured radio power is 49.8 × 10² Walz, and the matching pattern for each Hertz is seen in the nearby mini aura, suggesting that there are similar processes throughout the history of the universe.
Two competitive theories
Scientists have proposed two mechanisms to create these clouds of energy particles:
- Supermassive black holes drive high-energy particles into space
- Cosmic particles collide in clustered thermal plasma to crush matter at a speed close to light
- Magnetic field amplification during cluster formation before redshift Z~2
The discovery challenges current models of how these particles can maintain energy over such huge distances and time scales. Timmerman points out the meaning: “It’s amazing to find such a powerful radio signal at this distance. It means that these particles of energy and the process of creating them have been in the entire cluster of galaxies throughout the history of the universe.”
Impact on the evolution of the universe
Galaxy clusters represent some of the largest structures in the universe, containing hundreds of galaxies bonded together by gravity. This finding suggests that both black holes and high-energy particle physics are much earlier than expected.
Technical achievements require complex analysis to distinguish diffuse emission from other sources. This signal coincides with the X-ray emission of clustered hot gases in space, confirming its origins in cluster-wide processes rather than a single galaxy or active galactic nucleus.
Future telescopes like square kilometer arrays will even detect how magnetic fields and cosmic rays shape the earliest structures of the universe. As Hlavacek-Larrondo observed, “We are just scratching the truly vibrant surface of the early universe. This discovery provides us with a new window on how galaxy clusters grow and develop driven by black holes and high-energy particle physics.”
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