'Space laser' has boffins beaming

'Gigamaser' event from a galactic merger 8billion light-years away

- BY MARK WORGAN

ASTROPHYSICISTS say they have detected the brightest and most distant natural "space laser" ever observed, produced by a violent collision between two galaxies billions of light-years from Earth.

The powerful emission, known as a gigamaser, was discovered using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.

The signal originated from a galactic merger roughly eight billion light-years away.

The phenomenon occurs when gas compressed during the collision stimulates hydroxyl molecules to emit intense microwave radiation at a set wavelength.