The limits of cosmology: role of the Moon

Abstract

The lunar surface allows a unique way forward in cosmology, to go beyond current limits. The far side provides an unexcelled radio-quiet environment for probing the dark ages via 21 cm interferometry to seek elusive clues on the nature of the infinitesimal fluctuations that seeded galaxy formation. Far-infrared telescopes in cold and dark lunar polar craters will probe back to the first months of the Big Bang and study associated spectral distortions in the CMB. Optical and IR megatelescopes will image the first star clusters in the universe and seek biosignatures in the atmospheres of unprecedented numbers of nearby habitable zone exoplanets. The goals are compelling and a stable lunar platform will enable construction of telescopes that can access trillions of modes in the sky, providing the key to exploration of our cosmic origins.

arXiv comment10 pages, 5 figures; to be published in 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades', theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Concentrated Lunar Resources: Imminent Implications for Governance and Justice
• Large-scale Array for Radio Astronomy on the Farside
• 21cmFirstCLASS II. Early linear fluctuations of the 21cm signal
• Dark ages, a window on the dark sector. Hunting for ultra-light axions
• Joint 21-cm and CMB Forecasts for Constraining Self-Interacting Massive Neutrinos
• Modes of the Dark Ages 21cm field accessible to a lunar radio interferometer