Unexplained shapes in the sky could be evidence of a universe that existed before ours, scientists have said.
Astronomers claim that very unusual points, spotted in the early universe, appear to be sources of vast amounts of information. It is still not clear why those strange parts of the sky would behave in such an outstanding way.
But researchers have now claimed that those spots of energy could be the consequence of “conformal cyclic cosmology”, a theory that suggests that our universe existed in another form before ours. They could have formed from black holes, the researchers suggest in a new paper.
As such, those unexplained swirling areas in the sky could be the leftovers of another universe.
“What we claim we’re seeing is the final remnant after a black hole has evaporated away in the previous aeon,” Roger Penrose, a mathematical physicist at Oxford Universe and one of the authors of the study, told New Scientist, which first reported the news.
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A total solar eclipse as seen from the US National Science Federation observatory in the Chilean Andes on 2 July
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A composite image of the Cygnus OB2 star cluster composed of pictures taken by the Isaac Newton Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope on July 24
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The spacecraft Soyuz MS-13 is launched at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 20
NASA/Joel Kowsky
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A copy of LIFE magazine from July 4 1969 signed by Michael Collins is seen onboard the Soyuz spacecraft
NASA/Nick HAgue
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The galaxy NGC 1156 which is said to resemble a cherry blossom tree. Captured by the Hubble Telescope on July 12
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The spacecraft Soyuz MS-13 on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ahead of launch on July 20
NASA/Joel Kowsky
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Earth is seen in the background as a robotic arm from the International Space Station is positioned for training activities on July 12
NASA Johnson
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The galaxy NGC 2985, a classic example of a spiral galaxy. Captured by the Hubble Telescope on July 22
ESA/Hubble/NASA/L. Ho
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The sun rises over Earth as captured from the International Space Station on July 15
NASA Johnson
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The Namibian port town of Walvis is captured from 262 miles above on the International Space Station
NASA Johnson
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A total solar eclipse as seen from the US National Science Federation observatory in the Chilean Andes on 2 July
NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth
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A composite image of the Cygnus OB2 star cluster composed of pictures taken by the Isaac Newton Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope on July 24
NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Drake
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The spacecraft Soyuz MS-13 is launched at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 20
NASA/Joel Kowsky
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A copy of LIFE magazine from July 4 1969 signed by Michael Collins is seen onboard the Soyuz spacecraft
NASA/Nick HAgue
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The galaxy NGC 1156 which is said to resemble a cherry blossom tree. Captured by the Hubble Telescope on July 12
ESA/Hubble/NASA/R. Jansen
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The spacecraft Soyuz MS-13 on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ahead of launch on July 20
NASA/Joel Kowsky
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Earth is seen in the background as a robotic arm from the International Space Station is positioned for training activities on July 12
NASA Johnson
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The galaxy NGC 2985, a classic example of a spiral galaxy. Captured by the Hubble Telescope on July 22
ESA/Hubble/NASA/L. Ho
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The sun rises over Earth as captured from the International Space Station on July 15
NASA Johnson
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The Namibian port town of Walvis is captured from 262 miles above on the International Space Station
NASA Johnson
If the universe is going through extreme contractions and expansions, then it is almost certain that just about everything from the previous universe is destroyed when it does, and nothing is carried through into the new one.
But the latest study, published on website Arxiv, suggests that black holes that were around in the previous universe would throw out what is referred to as Hawking radiation, after Stephen Hawking. That radiation could last from one version of the universe into the next, they claim.
Those places where the electromagnetic radiation was especially high – referred to as Hawking points – could therefore be left over from the previous universe.
Those anomalous points would therefore be explained by what is known as CCC theory. Rather than being mysteriously glowing points, they would be the final “evaporation” of the supermassive black holes that were in the version of the universe that came before ours.
Many scientists have objected to the idea of the cyclical universe, and Hawking radiation still remains to be confirmed.
But the researchers say that they hope their analysis will at least help to give us a “a significant initial indication of the nature of these anomalous regions and provides an important new input into cosmology, irrespective of the validity of CCC”.
And they conclude by suggesting that their findings will pose a significant problem for the conventional understanding of the universe, however they are formed. “It is hard to see, however, that they find a natural explanation in the currently conventional inflationary picture,” they write.
