RAS: Have black holes been turning up cosmic radio volume?

Find out the latest thinking about our universe.
Post Reply
User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21571
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

RAS: Have black holes been turning up cosmic radio volume?

Post by bystander » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:50 pm

Have black holes been turning up the volume on the cosmic radio background?
Royal Astronomical Society Press Release
RAS PN 10/26 (NAM 11) 14-Apr-2010
Astronomers investigating why the cosmic background radiation is much brighter at radio wavelengths than expected have identified a potential culprit: fast spinning black holes early in the galaxy formation process. The results will be presented by Professor Andy Lawrence at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Glasgow on Wednesday 14th April.

Last July, US astronomers announced surprising results from a high-altitude balloon experiment called ARCADE-2, which had made careful measurements of the sky at radio wavelengths. The background radio emission, which is the component smoothly distributed across the whole sky, was several times brighter than anyone was expecting.

Now a team of astronomers from California and Scotland, including Jack Singal, Lukasz Stawarz, and Vahe Petrosian of Stanford University, and Andy Lawrence of the University of Edinburgh, believe that they have an explanation for this surprise.
Image
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image Reveals Galaxies Galore
(NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team)

Image
The M87 Jet: A Cosmic Searchlight
(NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA))

Post Reply