RRI builds credit card-size computer to help trace universe’s first stars

BENGALURU: A computer no larger than a credit card might play a key function in answering one of many greatest questions in astronomy — when did the first stars within the Universe start to shine?Scientists at Bengaluru’s Raman Research Institute (RRI) have constructed a compact digital receiver system primarily based on a single-board computer (SBC) for a proposed area payload known as PRATUSH (Probing ReionizATion of the Universe utilizing Signal from Hydrogen). The challenge is supported by the division of science and expertise (DST). “The aim of PRATUSH is to detect faint radio signals from hydrogen atoms, which hold clues to the ‘Cosmic Dawn’, the period when the first stars and galaxies formed,” DST stated. It added that these alerts are extraordinarily weak and are normally misplaced underneath stronger radio noise from Earth, together with FM transmissions. To keep away from this drawback, PRATUSH is designed for a future mission on the far aspect of the Moon, which is free from Earth’s interference and is taken into account the quietest place within the interior Solar System for such observations.“The heart of the system is a small computer similar to a Raspberry Pi. This SBC acts as the controller of PRATUSH’s radiometer. It coordinates the antenna, receiver, and a powerful chip known as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that processes streams of cosmic data,” DST stated.Girish BS, Research Scientist E at RRI’s electronics engineering group, stated SBCs, as scaled-down variations of desktop or laptop computer computer systems, ship an interesting stability of dimension, efficiency, and effectivity to handle the information generated by FPGAs by means of software program directions.The SBC additionally data, shops, and calibrates this data, guaranteeing easy operation whereas maintaining the scale, weight, and energy wants very low — all of that are important for area missions.Tests of the laboratory mannequin have proven encouraging outcomes. With 352 hours of information assortment, the receiver was ready to cut back noise to extraordinarily low ranges, proving it could possibly be delicate sufficient to detect the faint alerts from the early Universe.Researchers say using an SBC makes the system lighter, extra environment friendly, and fewer power-hungry in contrast to conventional options. In the longer term area model, a industrial Raspberry Pi will be changed with a space-qualified equal.If profitable, PRATUSH will give scientists a brand new approach to examine how the first stars formed the Universe. It might even open the door to discovering new physics. Remarkably, on the core of this bold effort lies a tiny computer quietly orchestrating one in all astronomy’s most tough duties — listening to the Universe’s earliest whispers.