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They were instrumental in solidifying radioscopic evidence for the big bang theory:
“I had a lot of experience fixing practical problems in radio telescopes,” Robert Wilson now says. He and his wife Betsy Wilson still live in Holmdel, New Jersey, not far from hilltop where the tests were run. “We looked for anything in the instrument or in the environment that might be causing the excess antenna noise. Among things, we searched for radiation from the walls of the antenna, especially the throat, which is the small end of the horn. We constructed a whole new throat section and then tested the instrument with it.”
At one point, new suspects emerged. Two pigeons had set up housekeeping inside the guts of the antenna. Maybe their droppings were causing the noise? Wilson and Penzias had the birds trapped and then cleaned the equipment, but the signals continued."
“I had a lot of experience fixing practical problems in radio telescopes,” Robert Wilson now says. He and his wife Betsy Wilson still live in Holmdel, New Jersey, not far from hilltop where the tests were run. “We looked for anything in the instrument or in the environment that might be causing the excess antenna noise. Among things, we searched for radiation from the walls of the antenna, especially the throat, which is the small end of the horn. We constructed a whole new throat section and then tested the instrument with it.”
At one point, new suspects emerged. Two pigeons had set up housekeeping inside the guts of the antenna. Maybe their droppings were causing the noise? Wilson and Penzias had the birds trapped and then cleaned the equipment, but the signals continued."
