Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths with Small Satellite Constellations

Chen, Xuelei; Burns, Jack O.; Koopmans, L. V. E.; Rothkaehi, Hanna; Silk, Joseph; Wu, Ji; Boonstra, Albert-Jan; Cecconi, Baptiste; Chiang, Cynthia H.; Chen, Linjie; Deng, Li; Falanga, M.; Falcke, H.; Fan, Quanlin; Fang, Guangyou; Fialkov, Anastasia; Gurvits, Leonid; Ji, Yicai; Kasper, J. C.; Li, Kejia; Mao, Yi; McKinley, B.; Monsalve, Raul A.; Peterson, Jeffery B.; Ping, Jinsong; Subrahmanyan, R.; Vedantham, H. K.; Wolt, M. Klein; Wu, Fengquan; Xu, Yuelong; Yan, Jingye; Yue, Bin

doi:10.48550/arxiv.1907.10853

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Since the frequency of the global 21 cm signal in the dark ages is redshifed to ν 40 MHz and the Earth's ionosphere has a strong influence on the detection of these signals, it is impossible to detect these radio signals from the Earth. It has been proposed that the radio telescope, either in lunar obit or on the farside surface of the Moon, could detect the global 21 cm signal of the dark ages (Burns et al 2019(Burns et al , 2021Burns 2020;Chen et al 2019). Burns et al (2019) frequency ν ∼ 16 MHz.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The observation of these signals on the Earth is effected strongly by the Earth's ionosphere. Therefore, future radio telescopes on the Moon or satellites around a low Lunar orbit have been proposed (Burns et al 2019(Burns et al , 2021Burns 2020;Chen et al 2019). in particular, for the Lunar farside, the influences from anthropogenic radio frequency interference can be mitigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influences of accreting primordial black holes on the global 21 cm signal in the dark ages

Yang

2021

Preprint

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Baryonic matter can be accreted on to primordial back holes (PBHs) formed in the early Universe. The radiation from accreting PBHs is capable of altering the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM), leaving marks on the global 21 cm signal in the dark ages. For accreting PBHs with mass M PBH = 10 3 (10 4 ) M ⊙ and mass fraction f PBH = 10 −1 (10 −3 ), the brightness temperature deviation ∆δT b reaches ∼ 18 (26) mK at redshift z ∼ 90 (ν ∼ 16 MHz), and the gradient of the brightness temperature dδT b /dν reaches ∼ 0.8 (0.5) mK MHz −1 at frequency ν ∼ 28 MHz (z ∼ 50). For larger PBHs with higher mass fraction, the brightness temperature deviation is larger in the redshift range z ∼ 30 − 300 (ν ∼ 5 − 46 MHz), and the gradient is lower at the frequency range ν ∼ 20 − 60 MHz (z ∼ 23 − 70). It is impossible to detect these low frequency radio signals from the Earth due to the influence of the Earth's ionosphere. However, after taking care of the essential factors properly, e.g. the foreground and interference, future radio telescope in lunar orbit or on the farside surface of the Moon has a chance of detecting the global 21 cm signals impacted by accreting PBHs and distinguishing them from the standard model.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of accreting primordial black holes on the global 21 cm signal in the dark ages

Yang

2021

Preprint

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“…Renewed interest in the Moon beginning in 1984 with the conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21 st Century brought forth new ideas for a lunar low frequency radio array (Douglas & Smith 1985) and a Moon-Earth baseline radio interferometer (Burns 1985). This was followed by additional low radio frequency mission concepts in workshops on Future Astronomical Observatories on the Moon (Burns & Mendell 1988), Low Frequency Astrophysics from Space (Kassim & Weiler 1990), Science Associated with the Lunar Exploration Architecture (NAC 2007), and more recently, Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths with Small Satellite Constellations (Chen et al 2019). Other published lunar radio telescope mission concepts include Takahashi (2003), Jester & Falcke (2009), Lazio et al (2011), Mimoun et al (2011), Klein-Wolt et al (2012), Zarka et al (2012), andBentum et al (2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Chang'e-4 mission was the first to place a lander on the lunar farside. It housed a Very Low Frequency Radio Spectrometer and a tri-pole antenna, composed of three orthogonal, electrically-short, 5-m monopoles, operating between 0.1 and 40 MHz (Chen et al 2019). Its science goals were to observe solar radio bursts during the lunar day and to measure the lunar ionosphere at its surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Radio Frequency Observations from the Moon Enabled by NASA Landed Payload Missions

Burns¹,

MacDowall

Bale

et al. 2021

Planet. Sci. J.

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A new era of exploration of the low radio frequency universe from the Moon will soon be underway with landed payload missions facilitated by NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. CLPS landers are scheduled to deliver two radio science experiments, Radio wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES) to the nearside and Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment (LuSEE) to the farside, beginning in 2021. These instruments will be pathfinders for a 10 km diameter interferometric array, Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages and Exoplanets (FARSIDE), composed of 128 pairs of dipole antennas proposed to be delivered to the lunar surface later in the decade. ROLSES and LuSEE, operating at frequencies from ≈100 kHz to a few tens of megahertz, will investigate the plasma environment above the lunar surface and measure the fidelity of radio spectra on the surface. Both use electrically short, spiral-tube deployable antennas and radio spectrometers based upon previous flight models. ROLSES will measure the photoelectron sheath density to better understand the charging of the lunar surface via photoionization and impacts from the solar wind, charged dust, and current anthropogenic radio frequency interference. LuSEE will measure the local magnetic field and exo-ionospheric density, interplanetary radio bursts, Jovian and terrestrial natural radio emission, and the galactic synchrotron spectrum. FARSIDE, and its precursor risk-reduction six antenna-node array PRIME, would be the first radio interferometers on the Moon. FARSIDE would break new ground by imaging radio emission from coronal mass ejections (CME) beyond 2R ⊙, monitor auroral radiation from the B-fields of Uranus and Neptune (not observed since Voyager), and detect radio emission from stellar CMEs and the magnetic fields of nearby potentially habitable exoplanets.

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“…Note that the interstellar medium is opaque to radio waves with frequency below ∼ 0.03 MHz, so the ULF band (0.3-3 kHz) is irrelevant to astronomical observation. wavelength (DSL; Boonstra et al 2010;Chen et al 2019;Chen et al 2020), the Dark Ages Polarimetry PathfindER (DAPPER; Tauscher et al 2018), and the Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages and Exoplanets (FARSIDE, Burns et al 2019). By orbiting the Moon, or landing at the far-side of the Moon, the Moon is used as a natural shield against the RFI from the Earth, providing an ideal environment for such observation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging sensitivity of a linear interferometer array on lunar orbit

Shi,

Xu,

Deng

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Ground-based observation at frequencies below 30 MHz is hindered by the ionosphere of the Earth and radio frequency interference. To map the sky at these low frequencies, we have proposed the Discovering the Sky at the Longest wavelength mission (DSL, also known as the "Hongmeng" mission, which means "Primordial Universe" in Chinese) concept, which employs a linear array of micro-satellites orbiting the Moon. Such an array can make interferometric observations achieving good angular resolutions despite the small size of the antennas. However, it differs from the conventional ground-based interferometer array or even the previous orbital interferometers in many aspects, new data-processing methods need to be developed. In this work, we make a series of simulations to assess the imaging quality and sensitivity of such an array. We start with an input sky model and a simple orbit model, generate mock interferometric visibilities, and then reconstruct the sky map. We consider various observational effects and practical issues, such as the system noise, antenna response, and Moon blockage. Based on the quality of the recovered image, we quantify the imaging capability of the array for different satellite numbers and array configurations. For the first time, we make practical estimates of the point source sensitivity for such a lunar orbit array, and predict the expected number of detectable sources for the mission. Depending on the radio source number distribution which is still very uncertain at these frequencies, the proposed mission can detect 10 2 ∼ 10 4 sources during its operation.

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Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths with Small Satellite Constellations

Cited by 15 publications

References 49 publications

Influences of accreting primordial black holes on the global 21 cm signal in the dark ages

Influences of accreting primordial black holes on the global 21 cm signal in the dark ages

Low Radio Frequency Observations from the Moon Enabled by NASA Landed Payload Missions

Imaging sensitivity of a linear interferometer array on lunar orbit

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