Source: The Holmdel Horn, a Cosmic Shrine in New Jersey, Stays Put – The New York Times
Oct. 20, 2023
A radio telescope that discovered evidence of the Big Bang in 1964, revolutionizing the study of the universe, will remain in its original place on Crawford Hill in Holmdel, N.J, town officials announced last week.
Rakesh Antala, a real estate developer, had proposed building a senior housing center on the site, a plan that drew opposition from residents and far-flung astronomy buffs. But an agreement between town officials and Mr. Antala seemed to augur the end of the cosmic controversy.
The Holmdel Horn Antenna, as it is known, was built in 1959 by AT&T Bell Laboratories, the renowned research arm of the phone company, for an experiment called Project Echo that relayed messages by bouncing microwaves off giant aluminized balloons.
In 1964, two young astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, found themselves plagued by an omnidirectional hiss as they surveyed the night sky for their own research. The static was eventually identified as leftover heat from the Big Bang. Its existence provided compelling evidence that the universe had started with a tremendous explosion; ever since, astrophysicists have been studying this radiation for clues to how and why the Big Bang happened.
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