Open User Keys Help in Second Window Jump to main content
GRIN - Great Images in NASA
Browse by Subject
Browse by Center
Search by Keywords
Frequent Questions
How to Use GRIN
Copyright Information
NASA InsigniaVisit NASA's home Site. 		Photo Banner of four images in GRIN.
Main Content
COBE's View of the Milky Way Main Content
NASA Center: Goddard Space Flight Center
Image # : 001
Date : 01/01/1990

Title

COBE's View of the Milky Way

Full Description

From its orbit around Earth, the Goddard Space Flight Center's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) captured this edge-on view of our Milky Way galaxy in infrared light, a form of radiation that humans cannot see but can feel in the form of heat, as part of its mission to test the "Big Bang" theory of the creation of the universe. The theory, first proposed in 1927 by Belgian cosmologist Georges Lematre, holds that the universe began as an incredibly dense "primeval atom" that exploded with tremendous force, unleashing matter and space at the speeds of light. NASA set out to prove the theory with the help of COBE. In addition to proving the Big Bang, the satellite discovered that the cosmic background radiation had indeed been produced in the Big Bang just as scientists originally speculated. The satellite's data even discovered the primordial temperature and density fluctuations that eventually gave rise to the Milky Way and other large-scale objects found in space today.

Keywords

Cosmic Background Explorer COBE Satellite Big Bang Georges Lemaitre Goddard Space Flight Center GSFC

Subject Category

Reference Numbers

  • Center: GSFC
  • Center Number: 001
  • GRIN DataBase Number: GPN-2002-000111

Source Information

  • Creator/Photographer: NASA
  • Original Source: DIGITAL

Image Information ( Copyright Notification )

ResolutionFormatWidth
(Pixels)		Height
(Pixels)		Size
(KBytes)
Thumbnail JPEG 67 34 4
Small JPEG 474 239 54
Medium JPEG 1110 561 250
Large JPEG 1 1121 1,216

Publication Information

Please note that the image number assigned to this image is not an official NASA number. It is for GRIN database purposes only.
Jump to main content

Other relevant NASA Web sites:
• NASA Headquarters
• NASA History Office
• NASA Image eXchange (NIX)
• NASA Multimedia Gallery
• NASA Human Spaceflight

Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn.  Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
• NASA's Privacy Statement