Echoes of the Big Bang: How Microwave Radiation Reveals the Universe’s Origins
Microwave background radiation is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence supporting the revolutionary theory of the Universe’s origin, the Big Bang Theory. But what else can it reveal to us?
Human eyes can detect electromagnetic radiation within a narrow frequency range. If the electric and magnetic fields oscillate between 384–789 trillion times per second (THz), our eyes perceive this as light of various colors. When we look at the night sky, we primarily see darkness, with light coming from sparsely scattered stars and other celestial bodies acting as unique mirrors. Does this mean that there’s nothing in the space between them?
Microwave Background Radiation Fills the Cosmos
To answer this question, we need to look at the sky in a different frequency range. What our eyes cannot do, specialized cameras and computer systems can achieve. They map the sky, assigning colors to different ranges of electromagnetic waves. Anyone can explore the cosmos this way thanks to the European Space Agency’s service available at sky.esa.int. When observing stars in gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, or infrared…
