Recently, a team of researchers is trying to capture a signal from the first star in the universe. It is widely believed that the star was the primary source of light in the universe. The star evolved after the end of the Dark Ages of the universe. The researchers are currently using the Murchison Widefield Array (WMA) radio telescope to find the signal. Scientists are planning to get a signal from the neutral hydrogen. As hydrogen formed the significant portion of the entire universe after the dark ages, the research makes sense.
The Origin of the First Star
When the Big Bang happened, the temperature of the universe was extremely high. As a result, the creation of atoms was not possible. Without the particles, the formation of stars was not possible. After around 3,77,000 years after the Big Bang event, the universe started to cool down, due to the rapid expansion. Therefore, atoms were formed and subsequently stars. Hydrogen gas dominated the then universe, followed by helium. But, the percentage of helium was negligible in comparison to hydrogen.
To get the signal from the first star, the entire set up of Murchison Widefield Array changed. The MWA is located in the Western Australian region. Since its inception in 2013, it had 2048 antennas in 128 tiles. But for the recent research, the number of the tile increased to 256, double the amount of initial tiles. The data received by the receivers are fed into Correlator, a massive supercomputer.
Scientists arranged the MWA in such a way that it can detect even faint signals from the neutral hydrogen. The scientists are very confident about the success of their mission. One of the scientists associated with the project revealed that if the signals from the neutral hydrogen are similar or stronger than the set limit, the MWA will capture it. But, experts predict that the success will not be easy, as neutral hydrogen often emit incredibly faint signals.
