Month: July 2025

FIRST LIGHT EPOCH – The time when the first stars formed, marking the end of the universe’s dark ages and contributing to the CMB’s properties.

REDSHIFT – The stretching of light from the early universe, making the CMB appear cooler and more spread out as the universe expands.

ANISOTROPIES – Small temperature fluctuations in the CMB that provide insights into the early universe’s density and structure.

BLACKBODY RADIATION – Radiation emitted by an object that absorbs all incoming radiation, with the CMB being an example of a nearly perfect blackbody spectrum.

RECOMBINATION – The epoch when electrons combined with protons to form neutral hydrogen, allowing photons to travel freely and creating the CMB.

COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB) – The faint radiation left over from the Big Bang, providing evidence of the universe’s early hot and dense state.

IONIZATION FRONT – The boundary where hydrogen gas becomes ionized due to radiation from the first stars, contributing to reionization.

STELLAR FEEDBACK – The impact that the radiation, winds, and explosions of early stars had on their surrounding environments.

EARLY GALAXY FORMATION – The process through which the first galaxies formed around the first stars, shaped by the presence of dark matter.