Astronomy › Section V · The Big Bang › Topic V.4
The cosmic microwave background
The whole sky glows faintly with microwaves left over from the hot young universe. This cosmic microwave background is the oldest light we can see, and its temperature, its near-perfect spectrum and its tiny ripples are some of the strongest evidence for the Big Bang.
In this topic
- A universe of fog
- The universe becomes transparent
- Prediction and accidental discovery
- Stretched by expansion
- Worked example: where the CMB peaks
- A perfect blackbody
- Worked example: our motion through the CMB
- Ripples: the seeds of structure
- The shape of space
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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