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First Cosmological Results From MAP

Posted by michael on from the profoundest-act-of-worship dept.

riptalon writes "The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, a NASA Explorer mission has announced the first results based on a year of observations from the L2 Lagrangian point. MAP carries two back-to-back microwave telescopes to study variations in the cosmic microwave background, to much greater accuracy than the COBE satellite. The excruciating details of the results on the age, geometry and composition of the universe can be found in this paper. Executive summary: 13.7 billion years old, flat, 4.4% baryons, 22% dark matter and 73% dark energy."

2 of 291 comments (clear)

  1. Ex by IanBevan · · Score: 0, Redundant

    13.7 billion years old, flat, 4.4% baryons, 22% dark matter and 73% dark energy

    Reminds me of my ex-girlfriend. She was about the size of a small universe too.
    --
    Never, ever lose a file again. Ever.
  2. Blurry Eyed Observation by Effugas · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Saw this image first thing in the morning, barely conscious, and thought, "uhnnnn...wha? some new map of the earth?"

    Then I realized what I was looking at. Funny, how the eye can see familiar patterns in everything...throw the Americas in the center, Europe on the right, Africa lower right, Asia off to the left with Australia at the far left bottom corner...

    Hell, even "South America" and "Africa" look like they could fit together.

    --Dan