Which of the following is an accurate description of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation? (1 point)
Responses
A. CMB increases across the universe.
B. CMB is remnant radiation from the Big Bang.
C. CMB is constantly generated by stars.
D. CMB produces differing temperatures across the universe.
B. CMB is remnant radiation from the Big Bang.
The accurate description of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is B. CMB is remnant radiation from the Big Bang.
The accurate description of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is B. CMB is remnant radiation from the Big Bang.
To arrive at this answer, we can use our knowledge about the CMB. The CMB is a form of electromagnetic radiation that fills the entire universe. It was first discovered in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery. The CMB is believed to be the afterglow of the Big Bang, which is the event that is thought to have given rise to the universe around 13.8 billion years ago.
During the early stages of the universe, when it was hot and dense, light was constantly being scattered by the particles present. However, as the universe expanded and cooled down, the particles could combine to form neutral atoms. At this point, the scattering of light greatly decreased, allowing it to travel freely through space. The CMB radiation is the light that was released at this moment in time, around 380,000 years after the Big Bang.
This radiation has been traveling through space for billions of years, gradually stretching and cooling with the expansion of the universe. It is now observed as a faint, uniform background radiation in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, with an average temperature of around 2.7 Kelvin (-270.45 degrees Celsius or -454.81 degrees Fahrenheit).
Therefore, choice B, which states that CMB is remnant radiation from the Big Bang, is the accurate description of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation.