ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cosmic Background Imager

Have you ever played with a radio or TV antenna and noticed that when you move it around, the signal on the radio or TV changes? That's because the antenna is picking up signals that are coming from all kinds of different places.

Well, scientists have a giant antenna that's designed to pick up signals that are coming from all over the universe! It's called the Cosmic Background Imager (or CBI for short), and it's like a super antenna that can pick up really faint signals that other antennas can't detect.

The reason scientists are so interested in these signals is because they can tell us a lot about what the universe was like when it was very young - like a baby! These signals come from a time not long after the Big Bang, when the universe was just starting to form.

But picking up these signals is really hard because they're so faint. That's why the CBI has to be really big and really sensitive. It's made up of a whole bunch of tiny little antennas that work together to pick up these signals. And it's not just one big antenna - it's actually made up of many little antennas that all work together.

Once the CBI picks up these signals, scientists use the data they collect to make pictures of what the universe looked like a long, long time ago. It's like looking at an old photo album of the universe! With these pictures, scientists can learn more about how the universe began and how it has changed over time. So the CBI is like a giant science tool that helps us learn more about the universe we live in!