New telescope array to look back into time
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LONDON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A new network of telescopes in Europe will see further into space and peer further back in time, astronomers say.
A network of 77 radio telescopes will detect low-frequency radio signals coming from outer space, giving a view of events that occurred far in the universe's past due to the time it takes for the radio waves to reach Earth, The Daily Telegraph reported this week.
Astronomers say they hope to find clues to how the first stars and galaxies formed after the Big Bang.
The far-flung network of telescopes in Europe, linked with two other radio telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere, will allow astronomers to sweep large sections of the sky in a single night and increase the chances of spotting previously unseen objects in space.
"Detecting low-frequency radio waves means we can look deeper into space than has ever been possible before and means we will be able to conduct the first studies of a time known as the epoch of reionization," University of Southampton astronomer Rob Fender said.
"This was when the universe moved out of its so-called dark ages in the first billion years after the Big Bang and the first stars and galaxies began to form."
"By looking this far back, we can hopefully find out more about what caused this to happen and what these early parts of the universe looked like."
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