Spinning Grains of Cosmic Dust Could Explain Weird Signals at the North Pole

[Judi Lynn]

By Mara Johnson-Groh, Live Science Contributor | November 29, 2018 12:03pm ET

- click for image -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzEwMy8xMzEvb3JpZ2luYWwvbWlsa3ktd2F5LWdhbGF4eS5qcGc=

An image of the glowing heart of the Milky Way, where stellar nurseries and intense activity is shrouded in a cloud of dust. A mysterious signal from some of the dustier regions of our galaxy could be coming from spinning grains of microscopic dust, new research suggests.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/CXC/STScI


Scientists have detected a mysterious signal above the North Pole.

Though it's not clear exactly what's causing it, new research supports the idea that the signal may be coming from tiny, ultrafast-spinning grains of cosmic dust.

The strange North Pole signal, detected by a massive, all-sky survey, originates in some of the dustier corners of our galaxy and is part of a galaxy-wide signal that has puzzled scientists for decades. Because this mysterious emission can muddy signals coming from the faint afterglow from the Big Bang, understanding it better could ultimately help researchers get a better picture of the early universe.

An unusual signal
In the late 1990s, astronomers looking at microwave radiation in the Milky Way saw an unusual signal. In between the typical emission from charged particles — free-free emission — and from spiraling cosmic rays — synchrotron radiation — was a faint signal that couldn’t quite be explained. Was it an unaccounted part of these emissions or something else entirely? They called it anomalous microwave emission, or AME. Today scientists are still puzzling out its exact nature, but research published Oct. 27 in the preprint journal arXiv and submitted to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society is providing clues. [11 Fascinating Facts About Our Milky Way Galaxy]

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64192-north-pole-signal-from-space-dust.html

[radical noodle]

1. Thanks Judi Lynn

I always enjoy your science posts.