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Credit & Copyright: WMAP Science Team,
NASA
Explanation:
Analyses of a new high-resolution map of
microwave light emitted only 380,000 years after the
Big Bang appear to define
our universe
more precisely than ever before.
The eagerly awaited results announced last year from the orbiting
Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe resolve several
long-standing disagreements in
cosmology rooted in less precise data.
Specifically,
present analyses of
above WMAP all-sky image
indicate that the universe is 13.7 billion years old
(accurate to 1 percent), composed of 73 percent
dark energy, 23 percent
cold
dark matter, and only 4 percent
atoms,
is currently expanding at the rate of 71 km/sec/Mpc (accurate to 5 percent),
underwent episodes of rapid expansion called
inflation, and will
expand forever.
Astronomers will likely research the
foundations and
implications of
these results for years to come.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: WMAP - cosmology - universe
Publications with words: WMAP - cosmology - universe
See also:
- APOD: 2023 December 31 Á Illustris: A Simulation of the Universe
- APOD: 2023 July 5 Á A Map of the Observable Universe
- APOD: 2023 June 29 Á A Message from the Gravitational Universe
- APOD: 2023 June 4 Á Color the Universe
- Video: Powers of Ten
- Earendel: A Star in the Early Universe
- CMB Dipole: Speeding Through the Universe