Scientists hope to shed light on young universe by using far side of the moon

, the team hopes to avoid interference caused . Photograph: RAL Digital Creative Services./STFC/UKRI View image in fullscreen , the team hopes to avoid interference caused . Photograph: RAL Digital Creative Services./STFC/UKRI Scientists hope to shed light on young universe -sized satellite in orbit around moon in search for 21cm line radio frequency signal Little is known about what was happening shortly after the big bang, but now researchers are hoping to shed fresh light on the matter . Scientists plan to put a suitcase-sized satellite into orbit around the moon, using the data it collects as it passes the far side to search for a radio frequency signal emitted . More specifically, the satellite, nicknamed CosmoCube, will be looking for what is known as the 21cm line. Crucially, the older the signal, the more its wavelength has been stretched, or redshifted, to longer wavelengths, providing a way for its strength to be tracked over time relative to the cosmic microwave background radiation. “The main thing we track ’s the physical temperature of the gas during the early universe,” said Prof Eloy de Lera Acedo, the lead author from the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. With the 21cm signal acting a bit like a thermometer, the team are hoping to study events from the start of the so-called “dark ages”, about 380,000 years after the big bang, through the cosmic dawn, when the first stars and galaxies emerged, to the end of what is known as the epoch of reionization, approximately 1bn years after the big bang. “The temperature of the gas is affected ,” said de Lera Acedo. In addition he noted the amplitude and shape of the 21cm signal was expected to be influenced , offering a way for experts to investigate the nature of this mysterious component of the universe. View image in fullscreen A representative model of the CosmoCube undergoing tests. The 21cm line is the radio frequency signal emitted . Photograph: RAL Digital Creative Services/STFC/UKRIResearchers have attempted to detect the 21cm line before but it is difficult to do using Earth-based instruments. Not only is the signal weak but human-made technology – from FM radios to plane communication – can cause interference. Writing in the journal Nature Astronomy, de Lera Acedo and his colleagues said other challenges included disturbances created ’s ionosphere. While experts at the Edges (Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature) radio telescope in Australia claim to have found the 21cm line, questions have been raised over the results.