Planck’s Microwave Universe

July 5th, 2010

Image: ESA,HFI and LFI consortia


This is an awe inspiring picture. It was taken by the Planck telescope and it is the first ever full sky map of the cosmic microwave background. The satellite was launched by the European Space Agency in May last year and sent nearly a million miles into space to record the origins of the universe. It began taking data in August 2009, by the end of its mission in 2012, Planck will have made four maps of the universe.

The bright horizontal band through the centre shows the Milky Way with streamers of cold dust extending above and below. But the interesting part to researchers is the scattering of yellow flecks in the red background. These are the oldest photons in the universe and are thought to have been generated about 380,000 years after the Big Bang, when matter was finally cool enough to start forming atoms. It is hoped data from here will help scientists seek out some signature radiating from a period fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

It may also confirm the existence of the “axis of evil” – a weird alignment of hot and cold spots in the emptier regions of space. Planck will also stare into an ominous hole in space that some physicists suggest is evidence that our universe is not the only one… Now hold that thought and look again at that photo…

“From the closest portions of the Milky Way to the furthest reaches of space and time, the new all-sky image offers an extraordinary treasure chest of new data for astronomers.” – Professor Peter Ade, Cardiff University

Entry Filed under: General