SARAS 3 radio telescope refutes recent claim of the discovery of a radio wave signal from cosmic dawn

What is the news?

Indian astronomers have refuted the recent claim of a discovery of a radio wave signal from Cosmic Dawn, the time in the infancy of our Universe when the first stars and galaxies came into existence.

Background

In 2018, a team of researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) and MIT in the US detected a signal from stars emerging in the early universe using data from the EDGES radio telescope. 

The researchers had claimed the discovery of a radio wave signaling the birth of the First Stars, However, the world awaited confirmation from independent researchers.

What did the SARAS 3 radio telescope find about this claim?

SARAS 3 radio telescope did not find any evidence of the radio wave signal claimed by the EDGES experiment.

What is SARAS 3 Radio Telescope?

SARAS 3 radio telescope was invented and built by the astronomers at Raman Research Institute, an autonomous research institute engaged in research in basic sciences.

The telescope was designed, built and deployed in India to detect extremely faint radio wave signals from the depths of time, from our “Cosmic Dawn” when the first stars and galaxies formed in the early Universe.

Why is it difficult to detect radio wave signals from an early period of the Universe?

Detecting a Radio wave signal from Cosmic Dawn, the time in the infancy of our Universe when the first stars and galaxies came into existence, is extremely difficult. 

This is because the celestial signal is exceptionally faint – buried in sky radio waves that come to us from the gas in our own Galaxy, the Milky Way, which are a million times brighter. 

Besides, this cosmic signal is in a radio wavelength band used by numerous terrestrial communications equipment and TV and FM radio stations, which makes detecting the extra-terrestrial signal extremely difficult.

Source: This post is based on the article “SARAS 3 radio telescope refutes recent claim of the discovery of a radio wave signal from cosmic dawn” published in PIB on 4th Mar 2022.