BIGHORNS - Broadband Instrument for Global HydrOgen ReioNisation Signal. (16th February 2015)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- BIGHORNS - Broadband Instrument for Global HydrOgen ReioNisation Signal. (16th February 2015)
- Main Title:
- BIGHORNS - Broadband Instrument for Global HydrOgen ReioNisation Signal
- Authors:
- Sokolowski, Marcin
Tremblay, Steven E.
Wayth, Randall B.
Tingay, Steven J.
Clarke, Nathan
Roberts, Paul
Waterson, Mark
Ekers, Ronald D.
Hall, Peter
Lewis, Morgan
Mossammaparast, Mehran
Padhi, Shantanu
Schlagenhaufer, Franz
Sutinjo, Adrian
Tickner, Jonathan - Abstract:
- Abstract: The redshifted 21cm line of neutral hydrogen (Hi ), potentially observable at low radio frequencies (~50–200 MHz), should be a powerful probe of the physical conditions of the inter-galactic medium during Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR). The sky-averagedHi signal is expected to be extremely weak (~100 mK) in comparison to the foreground of up to 10 4 K at the lowest frequencies of interest. The detection of such a weak signal requires an extremely stable, well characterised system and a good understanding of the foregrounds. Development of a nearly perfectly (~mK accuracy) calibrated total power radiometer system is essential for this type of experiment. We present the BIGHORNS (Broadband Instrument for Global HydrOgen ReioNisation Signal) experiment which was designed and built to detect the sky-averagedHi signal from the EoR at low radio frequencies. The BIGHORNS system is a mobile total power radiometer, which can be deployed in any remote location in order to collect radio frequency interference (RFI) free data. The system was deployed in remote, radio quiet locations in Western Australia and low RFI sky data have been collected. We present a description of the system, its characteristics, details of data analysis, and calibration. We have identified multiple challenges to achieving the required measurement precision, which triggered two major improvements for the future system.
- Is Part Of:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. Volume 32(2015)
- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
- Issue:
- Volume 32(2015)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 32, Issue 2015 (2015)
- Year:
- 2015
- Volume:
- 32
- Issue:
- 2015
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2015-0032-2015-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2015-02-16
- Subjects:
- cosmology: observations – dark ages, -- reionisation, -- first stars – instrumentation: miscellaneous – methods: data analysis – methods: observational
Astronomy -- Periodicals
Southern sky (Astronomy) -- Periodicals
Astrophysics -- Periodicals
Periodicals
520.5 - Journal URLs:
- http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=pas ↗
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?nid=138 ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1017/pasa.2015.3 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1323-3580
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store
- Ingest File:
- 6252.xml