Studying the first stars through the mists of the early universe
Observing the birth of the first stars and galaxies has been the goal of astronomers for decades. This will explain the evolution of the universe. The Cambridge University team has created a technique that allows them to see and study the first stars through the hydrogen cloud that covered the universe some 378,000 years after the Big Bang. Their methodology, part of the REACH (Radio Experiment for the Analysis of Cosmic Hydrogen) experiment, will improve the quality and reliability of observations from radio telescopes that see this important new time in the Universe’s development. Dr. Eloy de Lera Acedo of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory, lead author of the paper, said, “By the time the first stars formed, the Universe was largely empty and made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. Due to gravity, the elements eventually came together due to gravity, and the conditions were just right for nuclear fusion, which formed the first stars. But they are surrounded by a cloud called neutral