Aman Chokshi
Astronomer, Coder, Photographer
About Me
I’m a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University’s Trottier Space Institute, where I work on ultra-low frequency radio astronomy, instrumentation, and cosmology. I’m currently part of the ALBATROS experiment — a VLBI-style interferometer deployed on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic (79° N) — designed to probe the early Universe through the cosmic dark ages, and the intervening radio foregrounds.
Before moving to Canada, I completed my PhD at the University of Melbourne, jointly affiliated with CSIRO and ASTRO3D. My doctoral research focused on the challenges of detecting the cosmological Epoch of Reionization using instruments like the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and on simulations to inform the design and calibration strategies of next-generation experiments such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Check out my PhD thesis here: "Unveiling Cosmic Reionisation: Improvements in Understanding Interferometric Systematics".
My passion for the night sky is deeply woven into my research, and has taken me to work with telescopes in some of the most remote and spectacular locations on Earth — from the high Himalayas, through the Arctic tundra, to the South Pole. Astrophotography has been a natural extension of this journey, driven by the same curiosity and appreciation for pristine dark skies. My images have been published by NASA, the NSF, Nature, and the ESA.
Research
The cosmological Epoch of Reionization signal is dominated by foregrounds 100,000 times brighter. The obstacles hindering the first positive detection cannot be understated and require unprecedented precision at all levels – from an understanding of our instruments and foregrounds to the astrophysical inferences drawn from observations. During my PhD I have primarily worked with understanding the instrumental charachteristics of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and simulating the future Square Kilometre Array (SKA), towards improving our prospects of detecting and understanding the Epoch of Reionization. As a TSI postdoctoral fellow at McGill, I am extending my work to earlier epochs and exploring the Cosmic Dark Ages.
