BICEP2 detector, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). This detector is one of 512 used in the BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole. Each detecto

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BICEP2 detector, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). This detector is one of 512 used in the BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole. Each detector works by converting the light from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) into heat. The detector is cooled to degrees above absolute zero. In March 2014, it was announced that the BICEP2 telescope had detected a distinctive pattern in the CMB that supports the inflation theory of the Big Bang. These results were obtained between January 2010 and December 2012. The detectors and related technology were developed and produced at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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