"an electron within a molecule gets excited to a higher-energy state, the electron de-transitions back to the lower energy state, where it emits light of a very specific wavelength in the process. Then, pumped or injected energy re-excites an electron within that very same molecule back into that higher-energy state, over and over."
"out there in the Universe, this exact phenomenon occurs naturally in a number of galaxies at much longer wavelengths than the eye can see: in the microwave portion of the spectrum. Astrophysically, these objects are known as masers, and arise when energy gets injected into large populations of molecules that are only allowed to de-excite in specific ways."
"Using the MeerKAT array, scientists in 2022 identified the strongest, most distant maser ever seen: an object so strong that it emits more power, just in that one emission line we can observe, than the total sum of all the light emitted from 6000 Suns."
Lasers, invented in 1958, work by exciting electrons to higher energy states and then allowing them to de-transition while emitting light of specific wavelengths. This process repeats continuously when energy is reapplied, producing monochromatic light. The same phenomenon occurs naturally throughout the universe in objects called masers, which emit microwave radiation instead of visible light. Masers arise when energy excites large molecular populations that can only de-excite in specific ways. Recent discoveries using the MeerKAT array identified increasingly powerful masers at greater distances, with the latest hydroxyl megamaser located 11 billion light-years away, representing a record-breaking cosmic laser.
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