Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) | ||||
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) | Automatic translation | Updated June 01, 2013 | ||
Probe Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was launched June 30, 2001. It is intended to study the anisotropy i.e. the study of the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background). WMAP was named in tribute to the American astronomer David Wilkinson, member of the team in charge of the satellite, a pioneer in the study of cosmic microwave background, who died Sept. 5, 2002. The purpose of the mission is to map the best possible accuracy with the temperature fluctuations of the cosmic microwave thermal radiation and its polarization to allow recovery of the material content of the Universe. The first results of the WMAP probe have been rightly hailed as a breakthrough in understanding the universe because WMAP produced the first complete map of the CMB from that of the COBE satellite in 1992 and it has a resolution significantly better. | This murmur radio captured in the 3K radiation or -270°C, shows the residual fluctuations of our universe and filigree, lumps of matter that gave rise to galaxies. Planck Space Observatory, launched in May 2009 takes over to explain the history of the Universe. Its objective is to observe the cosmic microwave background, the radiation emitted 380,000 years after the birth of the universe, which explains why the current temperature of the Universe is 2.7 K. | Image: The analysis of the WMAP image of the entire sky suggests that the universe is older than 13.77 billion years (with an accuracy of 1%). It is composed of 73% dark energy, 23% of cold dark matter, and only 4% of atoms. It is currently expanding at a rate of 71 km/s / Mpc (with an accuracy of 5%), it rose by episodes of rapid expansion called inflation and grow forever. Credit: WMAP Science Team, NASA | ||
Planck Space Observatory | ||||
The space observatory Planck ESA captures the cosmic radiation or cosmic microwave background (CMB). | For that it embeds a telescope of 1.5 m in diameter and 2 scientific instruments developed by the LFI and HFI told Italy to France. | Image: The first results of Planck were unveiled at an international conference held in Paris in January 2011. Image noise in the infrared cosmic background. |