Signal Processing: On the Edge of Astronomy's New Frontier [Special Reports]

Digital signal processing (DSP) plays several important roles in modern radio astronomy, such as processing data to create highresolution radio images, isolating weak emissions from celestial sources, and reducing distortions in incoming signals. DSP can also manage beamforming, a complex process that allows radio signals to be received from across the sky from any direction, and even multiple directions simultaneously. Many astronomy projects are now relying on advanced signal processing techniques to probe the edges of the universe to extend humanity's understanding of its origins, scan the skies to image exoplanets-worlds outside our solar system-and investigate many of the major outstanding questions in astronomy. Here's a look at two of them.