CHIME detects faint hydrogen glow from the early universe on its own

The CHIME project has shown it can map the faint radio glow of neutral hydrogen from the distant universe without cross-correlating with galaxy surveys. Using 94 nights of 2019 data, it detected a signal from when the universe was 5 billion years old, offering a cheaper, faster way to probe dark energy.

• CHIME mapped hydrogen without data from other telescopes for the first time
• Signal came from when the universe was 5 billion years old
• About 2% of hydrogen was in neutral atomic form at that time
• Seven years of data collected; goal is to reach 3 billion years after the Big Bang