Astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have developed a new way that will let them see the earliest stars through the fog, as reported by PhysOrg. The fog are the clouds of hydrogen that filled the universe about 300 years ago following the Big Bang.
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This long-exposure picture taken early on July 21, 2022, shows a view of the Milky Way galaxy in the sky above the cedar forest reserve, also known as the Cedars of God, near the town of Bcharre in mount Lebanon, north of the capital Beirut.
By observing the birth of the first stars and galaxies, it will help astronomers understand how the universe evolved from the emptiness after the Big Bang.
The team's new methodology will let them see through the primordial clouds and other sky noise signals. This will help avoid the detrimental effect of the distortions by a radio telescope.
The methodology is part of the Radio Experiment for the Analysis of Cosmic Hydrogen (REACH) experiment. With this, it will let astronomers observe the earliest stars through their interaction with the hydrogen clouds.
Moreover, the new method will improve the quality and reliability of observations from radio telescopes when looking at unexplored key times in the universe.
Also Read: Astronomers Looking Deep Into The Universe's Past Find Most Distant Galaxy Ever Seen
Radio Telescopes
Radio telescopes are used in astronomy to observe the distant universe. They can observe the faint, very early medium- and bright- wavelength radiation from a large area at high resolution.
The most widely used radio telescopes are hydrogen masts. They use radio waves to observe the constituents of the early Universe such as the first stars, galaxies, and black holes.
These telescopes are not able to see the distant universe as we know it today. Thus, the new method will allow astronomers to look back to the early ages of the universe and study in detail the objects that are invisible today.
Just before the Big Bang, there was a period of cosmic inflation with very high energies. The hot, dense phase of the universe expanded rapidly with incredible speed. This rapidly stretched and squeezed the hot gas, creating gravitational waves and a huge, primordial soup of particles.
The first stars were born when the universe had cooled down enough for the electrons to combine with protons to create atoms.
REACH
REACH is a joint experiment between the University of Cambridge and Stellenbosch University in South Africa. It will be deployed in the semi-deserted land of the Karoo radio reserve in South Africa.
REACH is employing a combination of advanced Bayesian data analytics as well as physics-based models to try to understand the nature of the signal. The researchers will use the Bayesian model to try to distinguish the real signal from the noise. The noise is the natural fluctuations in the signal caused by the cosmic background radiation and other sources of interference known as noise.
REACH will be the most sensitive radio telescope to detect these signals and will be able to identify the signal more accurately.
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Written by April Fowell
