Radio telescope array could unlock the secrets of the early universe

To capture the night sky and better understand the formative years of our universe, astronomers are using something a tad more powerful than a traditional telescope. The Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OV-LWA) leverages 250 radio antennas, spread over a desert area equivalent to 450 football fields, to detect slender radio signals produced by distant pulsars, solar flares and auroras. Together, this army of antennas can capture the entire sky simultaneously and feed the resulting data back to the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. With over 25 terabytes flowing in every day, astronomers can study space weather, such as auroras, which occur when stars release magnetic energy.

It's hoped that in the future, the array can also be used to detect traces of radio light from when the first stars and galaxies were born. At the moment, evidence of these events is blocked by hydrogen fog, thwarting optical and infrared telescopes, but it's possible the OV-LWA will be able to cut through and provide new insight about the early universe.

Here's a 24 hour time lapse video of the radio sky captured by the array:

[Image Credit: Copyright: Gregg Hallinan]