Summary:
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally discovered Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) left over from the Big Bang.
The afterglow of the background radiation observed by Penzias and Wilson was actually light and heat from the initial explosion.
Description:
In 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) left over from the Big Bang. Penzias and Wilson believed in the Big Bang theory, which states that the universe was created in a massive explosion-like event 13.72 billion of years ago.
The discovery of CMBR was a major development in modern cosmology.
Although predicted by earlier theoretical work around 1950, it was first discovered accidentally by American radio astronomers
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson as they experimented with the Holmdel horn antenna at Bell Labs.
The discovery was important evidence for an explosion that set the universe in motion.
The afterglow observed by Penzias and Wilson was actually light and heat from the initial explosion.
The light is no longer visible because the wavelengths were stretched by the expanding universe [COS-EV02].
Independently, Robert H. Dicke, Jim Peebles, and David Wilkinson, astrophysicists at Princeton University,
were preparing to search for microwave radiation in this region of the spectrum.
Dicke and his colleagues reasoned that the Big Bang must have scattered not only matter that condensed into galaxies,
but also must have released a tremendous blast of radiation.
Observations
Measurements of the CMBR have made the inflationary Big Bang theory the standard model of Cosmology[REF-SCT01].
The discovery of the CMBR in the mid-1960s curtailed any
interest in alternative theories such as the Steady State Theory [REF-PUR01][REF-SSM01].
CMBR was proof positive that the universe began with a massive explosion.
Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (P) (REF-PENWIL01)
Frame of the Universe: A History of Physical Cosmology (REF-PUR01)
Generalized Second Law Implies a Quantum Singularity Theorem (REF-ACW01)
Hubble's Law (REF-HUB02)
Red Shift Distance Law (REF-HUB01)
Steady State Model (REF-SSM01)
The Standard Cosmological Model: A Skeptic's Guide (REF-SCT01)
×COSMOLOGY: The science of the origin and development of the universe. Modern astronomy is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which brings together observational astronomy and particle physics. Wikipedia ...
×Resource ID: REF-PUR01 Resource: Frame of the Universe: A History of Physical Cosmology Authors: Durham, Frank; Purrington, Robert D. Publisher: Columbia University Press Publish Date: 1983 ISBN 10: ISBN 0-231-05393-2 Page: 193-209
×RADIATION: The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles that cause ionization.
Electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths other than visible light were discovered in the early 19th century. Wikipedia ...
×Resource ID: REF-SCT01 Resource: The Standard Cosmological Model: A Skeptic's Guide Authors: Scott, Douglas Publisher: CornelL University Publish Date: 2018 URL:Click Here
×Resource ID: REF-PUR01 Resource: Frame of the Universe: A History of Physical Cosmology Authors: Durham, Frank; Purrington, Robert D. Publisher: Columbia University Press Publish Date: 1983 ISBN 10: ISBN 0-231-05393-2
×Resource ID: REF-ACW01 Resource: Generalized Second Law Implies a Quantum Singularity Theorem Authors: Aron C. Wall Publisher: arXiv: 1010.5513v3 [gr-qc] 24 (Jan 2013) Publish Date: Jan 2013
×Resource ID: REF-PENWIL02 Resource: Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (P) Authors: Arno Penzies, Robert Wilson Publisher: Wikipedia Publish Date: 1964 URL:Click Here
×Resource ID: REF-HUB02 Resource: Hubble's Law Publisher: Wikipedia URL:Click Here
×Resource ID: REF-SSM01 Resource: Steady State Model Authors: Wikipedia Publisher: Wikipedia URL:Click Here
×Resource ID: REF-PENWIL01 Resource: Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (P) Authors: Arno Penzies, Robert Wilson Publisher: Wikipedia Publish Date: 1964 URL:Click Here
×Resource ID: REF-HUB01 Resource: Red Shift Distance Law Authors: Edwin Hubble Publisher: Wikipedia Publish Date: 1929 URL:Click Here
×COSMOLOGY: The science of the origin and development of the universe. Modern astronomy is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which brings together observational astronomy and particle physics. Wikipedia ...
