The winners of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics are John C. Mather of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and George F. Smoot of University of California Berkeley. The prize will be awarded "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation."
Mather & Smoot were responsible for experiments conducted by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, launched by NASA on November 18, 1989. Mather, who works for NASA, coordinated the entire process, especially the experiment that revealed the blackbody form of the microwave background radiation which COBE measured. Smoot had the primary responsibility for measuring the small variations in the radiation temperature. Together, they worked with over 1,000 researchers on the project.
The result of this series of experiments was a more detailed look at the cosmic microwave background radiation, which is almost certainly a remnant of energy releases in the first few moments following the Big Bang. In the years since Mather & Smoot's results, other research has gone into even greater detail.
In the earliest phase after the Big Bang, the universe was a glowing body in which "the distribution across different wavelengths depends solely on its temperature". Radiation that fits this form is known as blackbody radiation. This background radiation was emitted when the temperature of the universe was nearly 3,000 degrees Centigrade, though the radiation has cooled with the expansion of the universe so that temperatures now are barely 2.7 degrees above absolute zero, as discovered by Mather & Smoot's analysis of the COBE data. COBE's first results came 9 minutes after observations began, in which it registered a perfect blackbody spectrum - a curve that later received a standing ovation when shown at an astronomy conference.
The term "anisotropy" refers to the small variations of temperature in different directions, which COBE also found. Such differences, on the level of a 0.00001 degree, offer information on how matter in the universe began to split apart, ultimately forming into galaxies, stars, and other early stellar objects. (Planets came later, from matter expulsed from stars.) The picture to the right, created by NASA, illustrates these differentiations in cosmic temperature.
Another significant aspect of this prize is that this marks the first time a NASA civil servant scientist has been awarded the prize.
Related Articles:
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- New Scientist - Big bang theorists scoop nobel prize for physics
- Nature - Cosmic ripples net physics prize
- Science - Physics Nobel for First Baby Picture of the Universe
- NASA - NASA Scientist Shares Nobel Prize for Physics
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