Robert Woodrow Wilson
Photo gallery
The 15 meter Holmdel horn antenna at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey was built in 1959 for pioneering work in communication satellites for the NASA ECHO I. In 1964, radio astronomers Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation with it, for which they were awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics. Photo taken in June 1962.
Photo: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Streams during Nobel Week
Watch the 2025 Nobel Prize lectures, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.
Explore prizes and laureates
Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.