NASA has exciting news about our observable universe revealed by Planck, ESAs space telescope’s collaborative mission.
I was excited to be tuning in at 1 am Australian Eastern Standard Time. NASA extended the teleconference to answer a few additional questions.
Planck – What is it?

Just to clear up a few misconceptions, Planck is not seeking to find space flying hippopotamuses circling about the sun.
Planck is a European Space Agency mission with international collaboration from USA, European and Canadian scientists. They work together to analyze the data that the Planck telescope detects.
The ESA collaborators renamed the mission after the German Nobel laureate Max Planck (1858-1947) when they successfully launched the satellite.
Planck is like a time machine, though it’s no TARDIS.
Planck is a space orbiting telescope that maps the sky using science instruments with technology provided by NASA.
The satellite is providing us with the most accurate data to date. It analyses the radiation that filled the Universe just after the Big Bang, called the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).
When was Planck launched?
Planck was launched on 14 May 2009 on Ariane 5 from ESA’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It has been operational ever since.
How does Planck actually capture data?
Planck listens and records sound waves, translated into frequencies that we can hear, that traveled through the early Universe. You can read and hear more about the frequencies NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In its infancy our Universe was a ball of hot plasma that contained light and a mixture of electrons, protons.
There were no galaxies, solar systems, stars or planets. Just moments after the Big Bang, sound waves rumbled through our young Universe.
The sound waves triggered by “quantum” fluctuations rippled through the soup of matter and light, similar to the ripples of a stone dropped into a pond.
As the sound extended, it left imprints in the light of slightly lighter and darker patches. By peeling away other sound interference, such as those caused by our solar system and galaxy, Scientists have been able to map this ancient light by seeing the sound echoes of our young Universe.
What has Planck produced?
The scientists analyzing the data captured by Planck have been able to create a highly detailed and precise map of our infant Universe after the Big Bang, when it was just 380,000 years old.

Due to the accuracy of the data collected by the Planck observatory has provided scientists with confirmation of the standard model of cosmology. The high level of detail and accuracy of the data collected, has also revealed a number of peculiar unexplained features in our the evolution of our Universe. that current models of physics do not explain.
Planck’s phenomenal findings

Scientists have derived a new age estimate of the Universe based on the map results. Scientists now predict that the Universe is 100 million years older than previous estimates (13.8 billion years old). This is really a tiny drop in the ocean where time is concerned.
The Universe is expanding more slowly than scientists had first predicted.
The composition of dark energy, normal matter and dark matter has slight variations based on previous estimates. There is less dark energy, which is the unseen and mysterious force that is pushing the Universe apart. There is an increased percentage of dark matter, another invisible substance perceived only through its effect on gravity and, a slightly higher concentration of matter.
By peeling back the layers of interference that lie between us and the foundations of the very young Universe, the data gathered from Planck has revealed that our blueprint of the cosmos is far from complete. It has revealed some unexplained anomalous findings.

Scientists studying the cosmic microwave background can now see temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of different densities. Temperatures at large angular scales do not match those predicted by the standard model, with signals weaker than the smaller scale structure.
Another intriguing anomalous aspect of the map are the unidentical average temperatures on opposite hemispheres of the sky. This finding is contrary to the standard model of the Universe. It indicates that it should be similar in every direction.
In the map shown above, you can easily see the anomalies, including a cold circular spot in the South East portion of the Planck map.
This is not the first time Scientists have detected these last two anomalies. NASA’s WMAP mission previously hinted at them , but mostly ignored as a by product of measurement.
With Planck’s precision capturing technology, this information confirms and establishes their existence. Scientists can now research and develop an explanation leading to new theories of physics.
Q&A
One question asked whether this new information gave credence to an infinite multiverse theory. The Planck data is not designed to answer this question. However, scientists have not ruled it out as a possible explaination for the anomalies.
If you missed this morning’s teleconference, you can still listen to the broadcast at NASA JPL Live, Ustream.