It looks like the universe is far bigger than what we’ve all imagined it to be. According to recent reports, astronomers have just discovered hundreds of thousands of new galaxies that have previously been undetected.

More than 200 scientists from 18 countries participated in the study and the discovery was made using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope. They found 300,000 new light sources believed to be originating billions of lightyears away from our planet.

In a statement issued from the Netherlands Institute for Radion Astronomy, Amanda Wilber of the University of Hamburg in Germany said:

“With radio observations we can detect radiation from the tenuous medium that exists between galaxies. This radiation is generated by energetic shocks and turbulence.

“LOFAR allows us to detect many more of these sources and understand what is powering them.”

Meanwhile, Annalisa Bonafede of the University of Bologna in Italy also pointed out:

“What we are beginning to see with LOFAR is that, in some cases, clusters of galaxies that are not merging can also show this emission, albeit at a very low level that was previously undetectable.

“This discovery tells us that, besides merger events, there are other phenomena that can trigger particle acceleration over huge scales.”

In an AFP interview, Paris Observatory astronomer Cyril Tasse shared:

“This is a new window on the universe.

“When we saw the first images we were like: ‘What is this?!’ It didn’t look anything at all like what we are used to seeing.”

Tasse likewise mentioned:

“If you look at an active black hole, the jets (of radiation) disappear after millions of years, and you won’t see them at a higher frequency (of light).

“But at a lower frequency they continue to emit these jets for hundreds of millions of years, so we can see far older electrons.”