Cosmic Microwave Background (IMAGE)

California Institute of Technology

Cosmic Microwave Background

Caption

This is the cosmic microwave background as seen by the WMAP satellite. This radiation was emitted when the Universe was 380,000 years old and has an average temperature of 2.7 Kelvin. The red and blue spots are temperature fluctuations that differ from the average temperature by only 0.0002 degrees. The region of maximal variation is in the lower right quadrant.

Credit

NASA/WMAP Science Team

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