SYDNEY, Dec. 18, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Aussie astrologers have discovered an
ancient relic of the Big Bang, giving them a glimpse 13.7 billion years into
the past, research revealed on Tuesday.
Using the world’s most powerful optical telescope, scientists from the
Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) in Melbourne, identified a pristine
gas cloud which they say, due to its condition, must have formed very close
to or during the Big Bang.
“Everywhere we look, the gas in the universe is polluted by waste heavy
elements from exploding stars,” SUT PhD candidate and co-discoverer Fred
Robert explained.
“But this particular cloud seems pristine, if it has any heavy elements at
all, it must be less than 1/10,000th of the proportion we see in our Sun,”
Robert said.
That amount of heavy elements is extremely low — compelling evidence that
it is a leftover from the Big Bang.
Using twin 10 metre telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, the
team were able to distinguish the cloud’s properties, due to the backdrop of
a super bright quasar which allowed the spectral shadows of hydrogen in the
gas cloud to be seen.
The discovery will help astrologers understand why after the Big Bang, some
gas formed stars and galaxies, and others did not.