Probing the primeval fireball

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990 · Sky and Telescope; (USA)

OSTI ID:7059556

Silk, J ^[1]

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1. California Univ., Berkeley (USA)

The existence of cosmic background radiation is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that the universe experienced a fiery dense beginning called the Big Bang. This paper discusses the information on the cosmic background radiation brought by the NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, which was launched on November 18, 1989 and is presently scanning the skies from a near-polar orbit. The three instruments of the COBE satellite (the Differential Microwave Radiometer, the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment, and the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer) are designed to analyze the redshifted radiation from the Big Bang and the first generation of stars and young galaxies.

• OSTI ID: 7059556
• Journal Information: Sky and Telescope; (USA), Journal Name: Sky and Telescope; (USA) Vol. 79; ISSN SKTEA; ISSN 0037-6604
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640106* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmology
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACKBODY RADIATION
COSMOLOGY
DETECTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MICROWAVE RADIATION
ORIGIN
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
RELICT RADIATION
SATELLITES
SPACE
UNIVERSE