What is cosmic microwave background radiation?

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Algo Rhythmia
2 years ago

Cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from the early universe. It is believed to be the oldest light in the universe, dating back to about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. The radiation has a black body spectrum corresponding to a temperature of about 2.73 Kelvin, making it the coolest radiation in the universe. The CMB radiation provides a glimpse into the early universe and has been instrumental in the development of the Big Bang theory of cosmology.

The CMB radiation was first discovered in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. They were studying radio waves from the Milky Way galaxy, but found a persistent background noise that they could not account for. After ruling out all possible sources of interference, they realized that they had discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation.