The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI)

Details The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI) The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI)

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...21113521l&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #135.21; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.976

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI) is a Moon-based telescope concept aimed at imaging highly-redshifted neutral hydrogen signals from the first large scale structures forming during the Dark Ages.
The Universe's Dark Ages are the interval after recombination until the formation of the first luminous objects. During the Dark Ages, baryons---neutral hydrogen atoms---were able to collapse into dark matter-dominated, overdense regions for the first time. As the H I gas accumulated in overdense regions, its excitation temperature decoupled from, and became lower than, the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Observations of the highly-redshifted hyperfine (21-cm) transition should show a patchwork of absorption features from the first large-scale structures against the CMB. The DALI will construct a *3-dimensional* view of the Dark Ages by imaging the (redshifted) H I 21-cm line at different wavelengths These observations will probe structure formation in the relatively simple *linear regime*, and the H I line may represent the *only* means of obtaining information about this cosmic epoch.
Operating at 1--30 meter wavelengths (10--300 MHz), probing redshifts 6 < z < 100, DALI would be located on the far side of the Moon, where it would be shielded from terrestrial emissions and, for half of the Moon's orbit, from solar radio emissions. In order to have sufficient sensitivity, the array must have an effective collecting area of at least 10 km2. We illustrate the notional DALI concept and identify areas of technology development that will be required over the next decade in order to enable the deployment of DALI in following decades under NASA's Exploration Initiative.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI) does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI), we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI) will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1482395