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What scientists believed was a technical fault with their equipment turned out to be radiation left over from the Big Bang - one of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the 20th century.Key facts
- Radiation emitted when the Universe was first formed is called Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
- Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation was discovered by accident by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.
- Penzias and Wilson set up a horn antenna, and detected unexpected radiation originating from deep space.
- Penzias and Wilson were awarded the 1978 Nobel prize for physics.
Transcript
In 1965, at the horn antenna in New Jersey, scientists Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias were getting ready to map the radiation in our galaxy.
The Horn Antenna, New Jersey, 1965
But what they were about to discover was much bigger and would earn them a Nobel prize in the process.
The …
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