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
Related scientists
Awards
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
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- 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.