Rhino: a large horn antenna for detecting the 21 cm global signal

Abstract

The sky-averaged brightness temperature of the 21 cm line from neutral hydrogen provides a sensitive probe of the thermal state of the intergalactic medium, particularly before and during Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization. This ‘global signal’ is faint, on the order of tens to hundreds of millikelvin, and spectrally relatively smooth, making it exceedingly difficult to disentangle from foreground radio emission and instrumental artefacts. In this paper, we introduce RHINO, an experiment based around a large horn antenna operating from 60 to 85 MHz. Horn antennas are highly characterizable and provide excellent shielding from their immediate environment, which are potentially decisive advantages when it comes to the beam measurement and modelling problems that are particularly challenging for this kind of experiment. The system also includes a novel continuous wave calibration source to control correlated gain fluctuations, allowing continuous monitoring of the overall gain level without needing to rapidly switch between the sky and a calibration source. Here, we describe the basic RHINO concept, including the antenna design, EM simulations, and receiver electronics. We use a basic simulation and analysis pipeline to study the impact of the limited bandwidth on recovery of physical 21 cm global signal model parameters, and discuss a basic calibration scheme that incorporates the continuous wave signal. Finally, we report on the current state of a scaled-down prototype system under construction at Jodrell Bank Observatory.