The other backgrounds :

Virginia Trimble1,2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy,University of California, Irvine CA 92697-4575, USA
2Las Cumbres Observatory, Goleta, California

Abstract. The significance of the cosmic microwave background or CMB (3K, ther- mal, relict, black body, isotropic, etc) radiation in confirming a hot big bang model of the early Universe and in setting precise values of many of the parameters of that model is widely known and has recently been enhanced by the results of three years of operation of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). There are, however, also backgrounds of astrophysical and cosmological significance consisting of photons of other wavelengths, other forms of radiation, particles, and fields. Several predate the discovery of the CMB, while others are relatively recent discoveries. This article explores the history of their predictions and discoveries and their cosmological and astrophysical implications as currently understood.

Keywords: cosmic rays magnetic fields - gravitational waves - neutrinos - gamma- rays: observations -X-rays: diffuse background - ultraviolet: general - infrared: general - radio continuum: general

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