BICEP2 telescope (foreground) at sunset in the Antarctic. The South Pole Telescope is in the background. These telescopes, part of the Dark Sector Lab

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BICEP2 telescope (foreground) at sunset in the Antarctic. The South Pole Telescope is in the background. These telescopes, part of the Dark Sector Lab operated by the USA's National Science Foundation, are used to examine the cosmic microwave background (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 were obtained between January 2010 and December 2012. The South Pole Telescope (constructed from 2006 to 2007) is used to carry out similar observations on the CMB's B-mode distortions.

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Photo credit: © NSF/STEFFEN RICHTER/HARVARD UNIVERSITY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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