Insight into end of Universe 'dark ages'
Following the big bang a dense hydrogen 'fog' settled over the Universe - by measuring the way this fog lifted in three galaxies, the researchers have found insight about how our Universe escaped the period. Image: JPL/NASA An international team of astronomers have uncovered an important clue about how the Universe emerged from its ‘dark ages' some 13 billion years ago. By looking at nearby galaxies, they can infer what may have happened to the first galaxies of our Universe.For some time astronomers have known that following the big bang, a dense hydrogen ‘fog' settled over the Universe. During this time, a lot of the light produced by the first stars could only travel short distances before it was absorbed by the fog. They call this period the ‘dark ages' of the Universe, but little is known about what was happening at this time."During the dark ages, the hydrogen fog condensed in...