BICEP2 telescope. Computer artwork showing the sensor array of the BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2) telescope. This

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BICEP2 telescope. Computer artwork showing the sensor array of the BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2) telescope. This telescope, part of the Dark Sector Lab operated by the USA's National Science Foundation, is used to examine the cosmic microwave background (CMB). It uses a transition edge sensor (TES) composed of an array of 512 detectors that are sensitive to the CMB. 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 relate to what are called B-mode distortions in the CMB.

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Size: 3270px × 5362px
Photo credit: © CLAUS LUNAU/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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