Microwave Background Radiation

[Karolina82]

Thank you mibn2cweus for your reference. I followed this up and found out that Penzias and Wilson were awarded a Nobel Prize for the discovery of the microwave background radiation. Could someone please explain this phenomenon and its cosmological significance in simple terms.

[woofgang]

Its the echo of the Big Bang. According to current thinking, this confirmed the Big Bang Theory
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/origins/redshiftrev4.shtml

[mibn2cweus]

According to Big Bang cosmology our universe was initially much smaller, denser and hotter. After some time the universe grew large enough so that there was room for radiation to roam freely without being continuously reabsorbed allowing the universe to cool down eventually to the temperature we measure today. This radiation which permeates the universe today very evenly in all directions is called the microwave background radiation because of its current wavelength.

http://www.bigbangcentral.com/microwave_page.html

[Karolina82]

Interesting and informative: thanks guys.

[ToraToraTora]

it's where all the microwaves for microwave ovens are harvested from using specially designed combine microwave harvesters.