Arno Penzias · Asteria Star

Biography

Arno Penzias, with Robert Wilson at Bell Labs, detected a faint, uniform microwave hiss coming from every direction in the sky. Unable to explain the noise, they had in fact found the cosmic microwave background — the afterglow of the hot early universe and the strongest evidence for the Big Bang. They shared the 1978 Nobel Prize.

Scientific contributions

Co-discovered the cosmic microwave background (1965)
Shared the Nobel Prize in Physics (1978)

Major discoveries

The Cosmic Microwave Background1965 CE

Related scientists

Collaborator

Robert Wilson

Awards

Nobel Prize in Physics1978

Knowledge connections

Part ofSpace Age Astronomy
ReceivedNobel Prize in Physics
Collaborated withRobert Wilson
Collaborated withRobert Wilson
DiscoveredThe Cosmic Microwave Background
StudiesThe Cosmic Microwave Background

Sources & references

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

The Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Foundation
Official record of Nobel laureates, prize motivations, and award years.
NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

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