Cosmic Microwave Background
Wilson detects the same persistent microwave noise with the Holmdel horn antenna
Astronomer profile · World History Database
Robert Woodrow Wilson
Robert Woodrow Wilson was a radio astronomer who, working with Arno Penzias, detected the cosmic microwave background in 1965 while investigating unexplained microwave noise.
Why Robert Woodrow Wilson matters in astronomy
The observation provided decisive support for a hot, dense early universe and helped transform cosmology into a precision observational science.
3matching database records
Wilson, Robert WoodrowName2, Name1 format
Robert Woodrow Wilson timeline in the database
Cosmic Microwave Background
Wilson publishes the microwave excess with Penzias, providing decisive evidence for a hot early universe
Nobel Prize
Wilson receives the Nobel Prize in Physics for the microwave background discovery
Related astronomy topics
Sources and editorial provenance
Compiled and edited by World History Database
Historical chronology compiled from the World History Database and checked against major scientific and historical reference sources.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
- Royal Museums Greenwich — History of astronomy
- Royal Museums Greenwich — History of the telescope
- NASA Science — Hubble timeline
- NASA Science — Exoplanet discovery history
- LIGO — GW150914 first gravitational-wave detection
- Event Horizon Telescope — first black-hole image
- NASA Webb — mission science and discoveries