Roughly what share of the universe's hydrogen was in neutral atomic form at the epoch CHIME observed?
- A.About two per cent
- B.About twenty per cent
- C.About half
- D.Almost all of it
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is about two per cent. An accompanying paper examined what the observed signal reveals about the distribution of hydrogen, and co-author Shabbir Shaikh of Arizona State University said the data indicate that roughly this share of the universe's hydrogen was in neutral atomic form at that time, broadly consistent with other measurements. Options B, C and D overstate the neutral fraction by a wide margin and are wrong. The wider point for an aspirant is why this matters: by measuring how that hydrogen is distributed and clustered, CHIME offers a new way to test our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve, which is a separate payoff from its main goal of probing dark energy. Candidates should also note that hydrogen is described as the most common element in the universe and the raw material from which stars form, which is why its faint radio emission works as a cosmic tracer.
Read the full article: CHIME Telescope Makes First Solo Detection of Hydrogen Glow
Practice Questions
CHIME, the telescope that made the first standalone detection of the hydrogen glow, stands for which of the following?
- A.Cosmic Hydrogen Imaging and Mapping Experiment
- B.Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment
- C.Combined Hydrogen Interferometric Measurement Endeavour
- D.Cosmological High-energy Infrared Mapping Experiment
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CHIME is an interferometric radio telescope in Canada, built to map the distribution of hydrogen gas in the early universe so that astronomers can calculate how the universe expands and thereby study dark energy.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian institute's researchers were part of the CHIME collaboration behind this detection?
- A.Indian Institute of Astrophysics
- B.Physical Research Laboratory
- C.Raman Research Institute
- D.Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
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The study that reported the first standalone detection included CHIME collaborators at RRI, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, and its associate professor Saurabh Singh is among the co-authors quoted on the result.
Read the full explanation →The CHIME detection was based on observation data collected in which year?
- A.2015
- B.2019
- C.2022
- D.2024
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The measurement rests on 94 nights of observation data collected in that year, which is only a small fraction of everything the telescope has recorded since operations began.
Read the full explanation →As on 15 October 2026, in how many tribal languages did Adi Vaani offer text translation?
- A.Four
- B.Nine
- C.Thirteen
- D.Twenty-one
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Adi Vaani supported text translation in nine tribal languages as on 15 October 2026, the date to which the figures in the background note are drawn.
Read the full explanation →Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, observed on 15 November, marks the birth anniversary of which leader?
- A.Tantya Bhil
- B.Birsa Munda
- C.Sidhu Murmu
- D.Rani Gaidinliu
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The Government of India designated that date as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in 2021, and in 2026 the Ministry of Tribal Affairs ran Janjatiya Gaurav Pakhwada from 1 to 15 November to lead up to it, taking more than 300 projects for tribal communities to the ground, of which 228 were…
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