FAQ :: COBE

1. What does COBE stand for?

COBE is an acronym for the COsmic Background Explorer.

2. When was COBE launched?

The COBE satellite was launched aboard a Delta rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base at Pt. Arguello, California on November 18, 1989. See the launch movie at:

• http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/cobe/tarp/cobe_launch1.mpg
• http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/cobe/tarp/cobe_launch1.mov

3. What instruments are on board COBE?

There are three instruments on COBE: a Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) to search for the cosmic infrared background radiation, a Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) to map the cosmic radiation sensitively, and a Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) to compare the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation with a precise blackbody.

4. Why are the COBE results important?

The 2006 Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to John Mather and George Smoot "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation". These results provide increased support for the Big Bang scenario of the origin of the universe, as this is the only scenario that predicts the kind of cosmic microwave background radiation measured by COBE. After the Big Bang, the universe expanded and cooled, leaving behind a trace of "left-over" heat from the Big Bang. This is the 2.7 Kelvin temperature measured by COBE. In addition, the small temperature variations (anisotropies) in the background offer important clues to how galaxies came into being. Without these variations in temperature the galaxies, stars, and planets would never have formed!