Early signs of ‘cosmic dawn’ found using Australian telescope

A SUPER-SENSITIVE telescope in remote Australia has helped scientists find the earliest signs of the “cosmic dawn”, 13.6 billion years ago.

THE earliest signs of the “cosmic dawn,” bouncing 13.6 billion years back through the history of deep space, have been found after a nine year search using a super-sensitive telescope in outback Australia.

“Finding this minuscule signal has opened a new window on the early universe,” Arizona State University’s Dr Judd Bowman said.

The discovery, the earliest evidence of star formation, was made using CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO), located in remote Western Australia in the Mid West Radio Quiet Zone, a 520km region where the restriction of television transmitters, mobile phones and electrical devices allows highly sensitive radio telescopes to operate.

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The radio telescope equipment at CSIRO’s Murchison radio astronomy observatory in remote Western Australia.

The recent finding marks the closest astronomers have come to identifying the moment gravity first pulled matter together to form stars — the cosmic dawn — millions of years after the Big Bang when the universe cooled and had been shut in darkness.

Using a radio antenna not much larger than a refrigerator, the researchers discovered that ancient suns were active 180 million years after the Big Bang.

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Dr Bowman began his Experiment to Detect the Global EoR (Epoch of Reionization) Signature (EDGES) 12 years ago and started his observations from Murchison nine years ago.

“CSIRO’s operations team at the MRO has been phenomenal,” he said.

“They have helped to install the experiment and maintain it between our visits to the site. Their expertise has been invaluable, they helped us learn how to operate in the Outback environment.”

Modelling suggests the earliest stars were huge, blue and short-lived.

Astronomers used indirect evidence, including changes in the background electromagnetic radiation which permeates the universe, to identify the early stars.

Artists impression of the earliest stars. Image: NR Fuller/National Science Foundation

The faint signal detection would likely not have been possible at any location other than CSIRO’s MRO facility, given it’s extremely “radio-quiet” environment and it was discovered in the same spectrum used by FM radio stations.

“Finding this signal is an absolute triumph, a triumph made possible by the extreme attention to detail by Judd’s team, combined with the exceptional radio quietness of the CSIRO site,” CSIRO’s Antony Schinckel said.

“This fantastic result by EDGES is a great example of the exciting discoveries we can expect to come from this unique site.”

The discovery is reported in the journal Nature.