What is Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CBR)?
- Cosmic Background Radiation is a result of the cooling of the universe (ie: The Big Bang Theory).
- CBR originated 400,000 years after the Big Bang.
- Truly universal and omnipresent, CBR is here around Earth, around the farthest star, and everywhere in-between.
- CBR is the same everywhere, with only small variations in temperature.
- CBR has not changed since the time of last scattering, which is when the universe had cooled enough that there wasn't enough energy to keep electrons and protons apart. The universe went from being a plasma to consisting of helium and hydrogen and the areas that were more dense kept attracting more and more matter around them and formed the galaxies.
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What is Ionization?
- Ionization is the physical process of converting atoms or molecules into an ion by adding or removing charged particles such as electrons or other ions.
- In reference to the big bang, this refers to a period of "re-ionization" were the universe had enough energy to add electrons to neutral hydrogens, changing them to an ionized plasma.
- This change had the effect of "baking in" the background radiation, so it still looks today as it did at the "time of last scattering"
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How will we "smooth" the CBR?
- We are developing satellites that can ionize the sections of CBR they pass through.
- By introducing electrons into portions of the CBR we will continue the ionization where it stopped billions of years ago, in a small portion of space.
- This will erase the small scale anisotropies in those areas of space, which is similar process to the smoothing of a hot iron on a wrinkled shirt.
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How is CBR visible to us?
- Since the 1980's we have been able to accurately measure and image portion of the CBR by observing the very long wavelengths of 140 and 240 microns.
- For more information about COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) please visit here
- The image above is a view from earth of the natural CBR that surrounds us. The variation in color are the ripples that we will be smoothing out. The smoothed area will be a consistent red hue.
- The "Lighthouse Application" is also available for download on this website, where patrons can see the smoothing process via a live representation of the satellite grid and its contributing donors.
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How will this be visable to extra terrestrials?
- Since CBR is a cosmic constant, any life that is actively observing the cosmos will be coming in contact with the same information we are.
- Our smoothing will be a break in uniformity, and it will therefore stand out from the rest of the universe, marking our Earth's location.
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Does the "Lighthouse Application" work on both Macs and PCs?
- The app will only run on both Apple Macintosh computers
How can I contribute to The Lighthouse Project?
- Personal donations are not accepted, but you can show your appreciation for the project by downloading our application.
Will I be physically affected in any way by this ionization?
- No. Various types of radiation, including CBR, are always present in our atmosphere and we are unaffected by them.
- The changes made to the CBR will be neither viewable to us, nor will it adversely affect our atmosphere, sky, or world.
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Where can I find more research?
Our research is generously hosted by
SpaceCollective.org.
We have split up out extensive research into four different categories:
Technical
Support / Organization
Message
History
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The Lighthouse Project was created for UCLA D|MA Brand Lab Winter 2008
Jono Brandel | Fred Jacksier-Chasen | Camile Orilleneda
Britney Maxwell | Chris Chernoff | Brian Williams
