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When we look at the CMB, we are looking farther into space -- further back in time -- than the farthest galaxies.

a) True
b) False

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Final answer:

The statement that observing the CMB is looking farther into space and further back in time than at the farthest galaxies is true. We see the CMB as it was over 13 billion years ago, which provides insights into the young universe. The universe acts as a time machine, allowing us to observe its history.

Step-by-step explanation:

When we observe the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), we are indeed looking farther into space and further back in time than when observing the farthest galaxies. This statement is true.

The concept is akin to looking at a history book; the further out we look, the older the chapter we're seeing.

Just as a letter sent from a distant friend can take a long time to reach us, resulting in us learning about their past life, the light from distant cosmic objects has been traveling for so long that we are seeing these objects as they were in the distant past.

The CMB is the afterglow of the Big Bang and has been traveling through space since the universe was just 380,000 years old, over 13 billion years ago.

Observing the CMB provides an insight into the universe's infancy. Therefore, viewing the most distant galaxies shows them as they were billions of years ago, and looking at the CMB offers a glimpse even further back to the origins of the cosmos.

Through this observational experience, we're participating in a form of time travel, as the universe, acting as a time machine, allows us to witness events and states of matter from an era long before even the formation of the stars and galaxies we see today.

It also helps cosmologists to study the evolution and history of the universe, reconstructing its development over the eons.

User Navaneeth Sen
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