Robert Woodrow Wilson | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Wilson in 2016 | |
| Born | January 10, 1936 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Rice University California Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Cosmic microwave background radiation |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Rhoads Sawin
(m. 1958) |
| Awards | Henry Draper Medal (1977) Nobel Prize in Physics (1978) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Bell Laboratories Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics |
| Part of a series on |
| Physical cosmology |
|---|
 |
Robert Woodrow Wilson (born January 10, 1936) is an American astronomer who, along with Arno Allan Penzias, discovered cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) in 1964.[1] The pair won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for its discovery.[2]
While doing tests and experiments with the Holmdel Horn Antenna at Bell Labs in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, Wilson and Penzias discovered a source of noise in the atmosphere that they could not explain.[3] After removing all potential sources of noise, including pigeon droppings on the antenna, the noise was finally identified as CMB, which served as important corroboration of the Big Bang theory.
In 1970, Wilson led a team that made the first detection of a rotational spectral line of carbon monoxide (CO) in an astronomical object, the Orion Nebula, and eight other galactic sources.[4] Subsequently, CO observations became the standard method of tracing cool molecular interstellar gas, and detection of CO was the foundational event for the fields of millimeter and submillimeter astronomy.
- ^ May 2014, Mike Wall 20 (May 20, 2014). "Cosmic Anniversary: 'Big Bang Echo' Discovered 50 Years Ago Today". Space.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
- ^ Penzias, A.A.; Wilson, R.W. (1965). "A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Mc/s". Astrophysical Journal. 142: 419–421. Bibcode:1965ApJ...142..419P. doi:10.1086/148307.
- ^ Wilson, R.W.; Jefferts, K.B.; Penzias, A.A. (1970). "Carbon Monoxide in the Orion Nebula". Astrophysical Journal. 161: L43–L44. Bibcode:1970ApJ...161L..43W. doi:10.1086/180567.