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Much of our knowledge of the early Universe comes from measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background, and it is the driving force behind modern cosmological models. Approximately one billion years later, the first stars were born from the primordial gas during the Epoch of Reionisation. These first stars and galaxies represent the most basic experimental setup we will ever have on the intersection of cosmology and astrophysics, and as such, they hold the last keys to some of the greatest mysteries of our early Universe. However, the Epoch of Reionisation signal is fainter than a light bulb on Pluto. Everything between us and this time period is extremely bright, like stadium lights, in comparison. Nevertheless, the allure of its science potential inspires astrophysicists from around the world to search for this signal. Using the 21-cm hyperfine transition of Hydrogen, we aim to map out the structure of primordial gas as it ionises around the first stars and galaxies, giving us bulk statistics on the young Universe. In principle, instruments from around the world have reached the required sensitivity to measure this signal, including the Murchison Widefield Array. Understanding how to perform the order-petabyte data reductions whilst reducing the causes of contamination that render the signal immeasurable is the focus of my research. I will discuss the range of approaches my collaborators and I are taking in order to reveal the elusive 21-cm signal as we approach the era of the Square Kilometre Array. |
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