Echoes of the early Universe. False-colour microwave map of the whole sky,showing variations or "ripples" in the cosmic microwave background. The mean temperature of the background radiation (2.73 degrees Kelvin) is shown as deep blue; pink and red areas are warmer while blue areas are cooler - red is +0.27 milliKelvins (mK),pale blue is -0.27mK. The red band across the centre is radiation from our own galaxy. These variations in the background are consistent with the inflationary 'Big Bang' theory of the creation of the Universe,and the existence of invisible 'dark matter'. The data for this image were gathered by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. With text lines | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center |
Taille de l’image : | 3804 px × 2604 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |