Adami Kristian Zarb, Farhat I O
Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK.
Insititute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2021 Jan 11;379(2188):20190575. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2019.0575. Epub 2020 Nov 23.
This work sketches a possible design architecture of a low-frequency radio interferometer located on the lunar surface. The design has evolved from single antenna experiments aimed at the global signal detection of the epoch of reionization (EoR) to the square kilometre array (SKA) which, when complete, will be capable of imaging the highly red-shifted H-signal from the cosmic dawn through to the EoR. However, due to the opacity of the ionosphere below 10 MHz and the anthropogenic radio-frequency interference, these terrestrial facilities are incapable of detecting pre-ionization signals and the moon becomes an attractive location to build a low-frequency radio interferometer capable of detecting such cosmological signals. Even though there are enormous engineering challenges to overcome, having this scientific facility on the lunar surface also opens up several new exciting possibilities for low-frequency radio astronomy. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades'.
