LuSEE-Night: Lunar Radio Telescope to Study Cosmic Dark Ages from Moon's Far Side

Astronomer Jack Burns has spent four decades working to place a radio telescope on the moon. The first one is finally scheduled to launch in early 2027.

Isolation dictates where we go to see into the far reaches of the universe. The Atacama Desert of Chile, the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the vast expanse of the Australian Outback—these are where astronomers and engineers have built the great observatories and radio telescopes of modern times.

The lunar far side offers a unique environment for radio astronomy, being permanently shielded from Earth's radio interference, which makes it an ideal location to study the cosmic dark ages.

LuSEE-Night represents a significant step toward establishing a permanent radio observatory on the moon that could unlock mysteries about the formation of the first stars and galaxies.