ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2009) — The Planck space telescope has begun to collect light left over from the Big Bang explosion that created our universe.

The mission, which is led by the European Space Agency with important participation from NASA, will help answer the most fundamental of questions: How did space itself pop into existence and expand to become the universe we live in today?

The answer is hidden in ancient light, called the cosmic microwave background, which has traveled more than 13 billion years to reach us. Planck will measure tiny variations in this light with the best precision to date.

The mission officially started collecting science data today, Aug. 13, as part of a test period. If all goes as planned, these observations will be the first of 15 or more months of data gathered from two full-sky scans. Science results are expected in about three years.

Read about NASA and JPL's role in the mission at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/planck/overview.html .

More information about the mission is also online at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Planck/index.html .

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

enlarge

An artist's conception of Planck. (Credit: Image courtesy of)

Related Stories

Did 'Dark Matter' Create The First Stars? (Mar. 20, 2006) — Dark matter may have played a major role in creating stars at the very beginnings of the universe. If that is the case, however, the dark matter must consist of particles called "sterile neutrinos". ...  > read more

Planck Snaps Its First Images Of Ancient Cosmic Light (Sep. 20, 2009) — Planck, the European Space Agency's mission to study the early Universe, started surveying the sky regularly from its vantage point at L2 on August 13. The instruments of ESA's "time machine" were ...  > read more

Herschel And Planck On Way To Study Our Cosmic Roots (May 14, 2009) — The Herschel and Planck spacecraft successfully blasted into space May 14 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. Herschel will explore, with unprecedented clarity, the earliest stages of star ...  > read more

Herschel And Planck Share Ride To Space (May 9, 2009) — Two missions to study the cosmos, Herschel and Planck, are scheduled to blast into space May 14 aboard the same Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

First Stars In The Universe