Abstract
IT is widely believed that the microwave background radiation1–10 discovered by Penzias and Wilson had its origin in a hot, early phase of the expanding Universe. The possibility has recently been considered11,12, however, that it is instead a result of the thermalization of starlight by interstellar dust grains. It is claimed that this could explain the fact that the energy density of the 3° K radiation is very close to those of starlight, magnetic fields, turbulent gas motions and cosmic rays, all measured in the galactic disk, and also of the energy produced13 by the conversion from hydrogen to helium of one-third the mean density of visible galaxies—a fraction which corresponds to the ratio of helium to hydrogen in young stars14. A paper by Zeldovic and Novikov15 has already, in fact, considered and discounted this possibility, and the purpose of this communication is to draw attention to some difficulties particularly associated with the suggestions of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe11 and of Narlikar and Wickramasinghe12.
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