WASHINGTON: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has detected a mysterious signal of light from a region of space where no object had previously been identified.
The signal was recorded twice, approximately 88 days apart, but scientists have yet to determine its origin.
The signal came from a region of the constellation Fornax in the southern sky, an area that astronomers have studied for decades. The Hubble Space Telescope previously observed the same region for more than 270 hours, capturing images of thousands of galaxies.
The James Webb Telescope also examined the area but detected a distinct line of light that had not appeared in earlier observations.
To investigate the phenomenon, researchers used the telescope’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph to separate the light into different wavelengths. This technique helps scientists identify the characteristics and composition of celestial objects.
Observations conducted in August and November 2023 revealed a prominent light emission at a wavelength of approximately 1.6 micrometres from the same location.
The signal was also detected during observations taken from different angles. Researchers say this makes it difficult to dismiss the finding as a technical malfunction, although the source has not been confirmed by earlier observations.
Scientists have proposed several possible explanations, including a galaxy from the early universe, a relatively young galaxy, an exploding star or a black hole tearing apart a nearby star through its gravitational pull.
However, none of these possibilities fully explains all the available evidence.
Researchers caution that a single line of light is insufficient to determine the source and its distance with certainty.
The expansion of the universe can also shift the wavelength of light travelling across vast cosmic distances, complicating efforts to identify the object.
Scientists say further, more sensitive observations will be needed to solve the mystery. Additional spectral features could help establish the nature and location of the source.