cosmic background radiation

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction in the universe, considered the remnant of the big bang and corresponding to the black-body radiation of 3 K, the temperature to which the universe has cooled.

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cosmic background radiation Scientific  

1. Weak radio-frequency radiation traveling through outer space with equal intensity in every direction. It is thought to be residual radiation from a period shortly following the big bang, when the universe was very hot.

2. Also called microwave background

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Example Sentences

This method is complemented by another method that analyzes irregularities in the so-called cosmic background radiation; an ancient form of light dating back to shortly after the Big Bang.

From Science Daily • Oct. 2, 2023

These two scientists are standing in front of the horn-shaped antenna with which they discovered the cosmic background radiation.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

A flotilla of experiments devoted to the cause are underway, studying a thin haze of microwaves, known as cosmic background radiation, left from the Big Bang, when the cosmos was about 380,000 years old.

From New York Times • Jan. 30, 2015

Even the theory of cosmic inflation, which admittedly is a bit conjectural, has been confirmed by the shape of the cosmic background radiation, as measured by the Hubble space telescope.

From Slate • Jul. 23, 2012

The remnants of that fireball, the cosmic background radiation, emanating from all parts of the sky can be detected by radio telescopes today.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan