Cosmic background radiation is electromagnetic radiation from the sky with no discernable source. The origin of this radiation depends on the region of the spectrum that we are observing. One component is the cosmic microwave background radiation. This component is redshifted photons that have freely streamed from an epoch when the universe became transparent for the first time to radiation. Its discovery and detail observations of its properties are considered one of the major confirmations of the Big Bang.
The Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect shows the phenomena of radiant cosmic background radiation interacting with "electron" clouds distorting the spectrum of the radiation.
There is also background radiation in the infrared, x-rays, etc., with different causes, and they can sometimes be resolved into individual source. See cosmic infrared background and X-ray background. See also cosmic neutrino background and extragalactic background light.
Read more about Cosmic Background Radiation: History of Significant Events
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