vincent Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Physicists announced Thursday that they now have the smoking gun that shows the universe went through extremely rapid expansion in the moments after the big bang, growing from the size of a marble to a volume larger than all of observable space in less than a trillion-trillionth of a second. The discovery ? which involves an analysis of variations in the brightness of microwave radiation ? is the first direct evidence to support the two-decade-old theory that the universe went through what is called inflation. It also helps explain how matter eventually clumped together into planets, stars and galaxies in a universe that began as a remarkably smooth, superhot soup. "It's giving us our first clues about how inflation took place," said Michael Turner, assistant director for mathematics and physical sciences at the National Science Foundation. "This is absolutely amazing." Brian Greene, a Columbia University physicist, said: "The observations are spectacular and the conclusions are stunning." Researchers found the evidence for inflation by looking at a faint glow that permeates the universe. That glow, known as the cosmic microwave background, was produced when the universe was about 300,000 years old ? long after inflation had done its work. But just as a fossil tells a paleontologist about long-extinct life, the pattern of light in the cosmic microwave background offers clues about what came before it. Of specific interest to physicists are subtle brightness variations that give images of the microwave background a lumpy appearance. Physicists presented new measurements of those variations during a news conference at Princeton University. The measurements were made by a spaceborne instrument called the Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe, or WMAP, launched by NASA in 2001. Earlier studies of WMAP data have determined that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, give or take a few hundred thousand years. WMAP also measured variations in the cosmic microwave background so huge that they stretch across the entire sky. Those earlier observations are strong indicators of inflation, but no smoking gun, said Turner, who was not involved in the research. The new analysis looked at variations in the microwave background over smaller patches of sky ? only billions of light-years across, instead of hundreds of billions. Without inflation, the brightness variations over small patches of the sky would be the same as those observed over larger areas of the heavens. But the researchers found considerable differences in the brightness variations. "The data favors inflation," said Charles Bennett, a Johns Hopkins University physicist who announced the discovery. He was joined by two Princeton colleagues, Lyman Page and David Spergel, who also contributed to the research. Bennett added: "It amazes me that we can say anything at all about what transpired in the first trillionth of a second of the universe." The physicists said small lumps in the microwave background began during inflation. Those lumps eventually coalesced into stars, galaxies and planets. The measurements are scheduled to be published in a future issue of the Astrophysical Journal. Source: Yahoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kin Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 very interesting rippeh :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdsams Veteran Posted March 17, 2006 Veteran Share Posted March 17, 2006 first thing that came to mind cosmic super fart... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacris2000 Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Inflation rates are rising? again??? Oh wait.. it's not that kind of inflation :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted March 20, 2006 Veteran Share Posted March 20, 2006 13.7 Billion years ehh?... I'm sure some people wouldn't like to know that bit of info... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyyPunk Veteran Posted March 20, 2006 Veteran Share Posted March 20, 2006 :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 (edited) Well this is the result of three years of WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe) data. So far we can say that the standard model has been confirmed. Here the results: The Microwave Sky WMAP has produced a new, more detailed picture of the infant universe. Colors indicate "warmer" (red) and "cooler" (blue) spots. The white bars show the "polarization" direction of the oldest light. This new information helps to pinpoint when the first stars formed and provides new clues about events that transpired in the first trillionth of a second of the universe. Content of the Universe WMAP data reveals that its contents include 4% atoms, the building blocks of stars and planets. Dark matter comprises 22% of the universe. This matter, different from atoms, does not emit or absorb light. It has only been detected indirectly by its gravity. 74% of the Universe, is composed of "dark energy", that acts as a sort of an anti-gravity. This energy, distinct from dark matter, is responsible for the present-day acceleration of the universal expansion. Edited March 20, 2006 by ripgut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guru Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 just wondering if dark matter and dark energy are interchangable(e=mc2) like regular mass and energy. If yes, then 96% of universe is "dark". wow that means anyhing that we see is part of the 4% of universe. we cannot, ever know about the other 96% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹ Posted March 23, 2006 Subscriber¹ Share Posted March 23, 2006 There's nothing to say that we can't ever know about the the dark % of the energy and matter in the universe, it's just that we can't directly observe it at the moment - I mean we obviously know about this 96% otherwise we wouldn't know it was there :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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