Question

What is the importance of minor irregularities, or 'ripples,' in the cosmic background radiation?

Answer 1

They are the first abnormalities in the universe. These ripples are places where there was more/less energy then other places in the universe when it was very young. Thanks to them, gravity was more dominant in some areas and less dominant in others allowing galaxies and things to contract under their own gravity and form. If the universe was perfectly uniform, it would just be a sea of particles today.

Answer 2

Very true Veronica. It is a funny idea to realize that when one is 'un'tuning a TV set to the typical noise, about 5% of the distortion is a leftover from the Big Bang.

Answer 3

If the CMBR were absolutely homogeneous then the formation of stars and galaxies would be extremely difficult to explain. It's currently believed that the almost undetectable "ripples" detected in the CMBR gave rise to the current structure of the universe.

Answer 4

It's observable evidence of the "Big Bang"

Answer 5

Roman is basically correct. If the early universe were completely homogenious, this tends to contradict the intricate structure we see today in the non-uniform distribution of galaxies. How could a completely homogenous soup of particles result in the intricate structure we see? The fact that the background radiation shows some non-unifomities indicates the early univers was not quite homogenious in it's distribution and removes the paradox.