First predicted by George Gamow, it was discovered accidentally by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias in 1964.
The alignment of the quadrupole and octopole modes of one measurement of this phenomenon with the ecliptic plane is amusingly referred to as the "axis of evil." Recent studies of this phenomenon include MAXIMA, which split off from the similar BOOMERANG experiment. The FIRAS experiment studied its anisotropies using the COBE satellites, while (*) WMAP measures its temperature. First predicted by George Gamow, it was discovered accidentally by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias in 1964. Corresponding to a nearly perfect blackbody, for 10 points, identify this radiation left over from the Big Bang with a temperature of about two point seven Kelvin.
The alignment of the quadrupole and octopole modes of one measurement of this phenomenon with the ecliptic plane is amusingly referred to as the "axis of evil."
{CMBR} [or {Cosmic Microwave Background} Radiation]