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Satellite produces dramatically
sharp 'baby picture' of the universe by Steven Schultz
Answers to longstanding questions about the age, composition and evolution of the universe snapped into sharper focus with the arrival of the data, which came from a yearlong observation of remnants of light from the big bang itself. "We have a map of the earliest light of the universe that is complete, and it is stunning to look at," said Princeton physicist Lyman Page. The space agency also announced that it has named the satellite that collected the data in honor of Princeton physicist David Wilkinson, who was a founding member of the project team and who died in September 2002. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe measures slight ripples -- or anisotropies -- in the big-bang afterglow that suffuses the universe. Among the most surprising results is the discovery that the first stars formed just 200 million years after the big bang, sooner than previously thought. Scientists had thought that the first stars formed when the universe was 800 million years old. Other implications arising from the data include:
"These numbers represent a milestone in how we view our universe," Anne Kinney, NASA director for astronomy and physics, said in the space agency's news release. "This is a true turning point for cosmology." "The really remarkable thing is that it all fits," said David Spergel, a Princeton astrophysicist and a participant in the project. The data tie together many previous observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and other sources, essentially completing the basic picture of how the universe began, he said. The full story is available in a news release. |
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