New cosmic background radiation map challenges some foundations of cosmology
March 22, 2013
Cosmic microwave background seen by Planck space telescope (credit: ESA)
The most detailed map ever created of the cosmic microwave background — the relic radiation from the Big Bang — acquired by ESA’s Planck space telescope, has been released, revealing features that challenge the foundations of our current understanding of the Universe and may require new physics.
- The fluctuations in the CMB temperatures at large angular scales do not match those predicted by the standard model in physics — their signals are not as strong as expected from the smaller scale structure revealed by Planck.
- An asymmetry in the average temperatures on opposite hemispheres of the sky runs counter to the prediction made by the standard model that the Universe should be broadly similar in any direction we look.
- A cold spot extends over a patch of sky that is much larger than expected.
- Dark energy, a mysterious force thought to be responsible for accelerating the expansion of the Universe, accounts for less than previously thought.
One way to explain the anomalies is to propose that the Universe is in fact not the same in all directions on a larger scale than we can observe. In this scenario, the light rays from the CMB may have taken a more complicated route through the Universe than previously understood, resulting in some of the unusual patterns observed today.
The Planck data also set a new value for the rate at which the Universe is expanding today, known as the Hubble constant. At 67.15 kilometers per second per megaparsec, this is significantly less than the current standard value in astronomy. The data imply that the age of the Universe is 13.82 billion years.
The cosmic microwave background
The image is based on the initial 15.5 months of data from Planck and is the mission’s first all-sky picture of the oldest light in our Universe, imprinted on the sky when it was just 380 000 years old.
At that time, the young Universe was filled with a hot dense soup of interacting protons, electrons and photons at about 2700ºC. When the protons and electrons joined to form hydrogen atoms, the light was set free. As the Universe has expanded, this light today has been stretched out to microwave wavelengths, equivalent to a temperature of just 2.7 degrees above absolute zero.
This cosmic microwave background (CMB) — shows tiny temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of slightly different densities at very early times, representing the seeds of all future structure: the stars and galaxies of today.
According to the standard model of cosmology, the fluctuations arose immediately after the Big Bang and were stretched to cosmologically large scales during a brief period of accelerated expansion known as inflation.
Planck was designed to map these fluctuations across the whole sky with greater resolution and sensitivity than ever before. By analyzing the nature and distribution of the seeds in Planck’s CMB image, we can determine the composition and evolution of the Universe from its birth to the present day.
“The extraordinary quality of Planck’s portrait of the infant Universe allows us to peel back its layers to the very foundations, revealing that our blueprint of the cosmos is far from complete. Such discoveries were made possible by the unique technologies developed for that purpose by European industry,” says Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General.
The asymmetry and the cold spot had already been hinted at with Planck’s predecessor, NASA’s WMAP mission, but were largely ignored because of lingering doubts about their cosmic origin.
“The fact that Planck has made such a significant detection of these anomalies erases any doubts about their reality; it can no longer be said that they are artefacts of the measurements. They are real and we have to look for a credible explanation,” says Paolo Natoli of the University of Ferrara, Italy.
Comments (27)
by Dr. X
So now I need to get used to 12.82B years old universe number? Doh! That is sucks! I so get used to 12.7B – a whole 120 million years younger universe. I knew 12.7B was +-0.2B. But what the uncertainty with 12.82B years estimate?
by seeker
so ok, how Big Bang happened ?? In begining we have object with infinite density … – it seems like BLACK HOLE isn’t it ? how could black explode ?? Mayby it doesn’t explode and we are still inside it and we are only watching expansion of space inside black hole… if it is true then we have clue what could happen inside other black holes that we observe. But WHAT effect could be produced by matter still falling into our black hole ? what effect that new matter could have on our universe ? Mayby it’s the cause of accelerating expansion ?
by Bri
For the most part this new data confirms our theories. The big problem is our understanding of inflation. Primarily what the initial fluctuations were and, what and how did inflation expand on them.
by Foye Lowe
Here I go again, obviously missing something. I can conceive of no mathematical reason why reality is not “turtles (or perhaps fractals) all the way down” (and “up”). On the other hand, I can conceive of the adulteration of radiation from distant sources, it being reddened by the impact of light from other directions, or lengthening it by gravity, or simply by some erosive effect of energy in its guise of matter. There may certainly be some banging going on, but a unique Big Bang and an enhanced expansion in every direction offends the limits of my ability to imagine, whereas (perhaps oddly enough) infinities do not. Of course you know the turtle idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down
by Bri
I’m a big fan of the turtles analogy( they are so cute all stacked up like that!).What you need is string theory. It addresses some of the problems your having. The big problem is that your are trying to deal with infinitely small spaces. To steal a phrase from ancient Babylon, care of Howard Bloom, the cattle pen of the horizon limits our ability to survey further down. At some point we will hit a limit that can’t be passed because the instruments to detect can’t be made smaller. This indivisible point was supposed to be the atom. That’s really what the word means. We have gone further down in size by our machines. At some point they won’t be able to go further. Right now we probe with mathematics. That’s where string theory comes in. It’s giving us great insights but will eventually run it’s course. What instrument will get us beyond that cattle pen is yet to be discovered. It’s questionable what that new system can achieve. All these things need to be testable to have any value. Many of string theory’s predictions won’t be testable for a long time.
That bedrock of our reality is what many refer to as the point of pixelation, and is why so many believe that this reality is more like a holodeck. String theory alludes to that. Mishio Kaku has some great videos on that. For now the big bang theory fits all the puzzle pieces together the best. One of the things that string theory postulates is that the big bang was initiated by the collisions of two universes and that they are like bubbles floating in an infinite sea of bubbles. Very similar to the turtles idea, it’s just bubbles all the way down.
by Pete
The “Matrioshka Doll” analogy may be more accurate in ths case, I believe.
by Pommodore 94
“One of the things that string theory postulates is that the big bang was initiated by the collisions of two universes and that they are like bubbles floating in an infinite sea of bubbles. Very similar to the turtles idea, it’s just bubbles all the way down.”
and what cause the other universes to form?
by Pete
RE and what cause the other universes to form?
This question can be most satisfyingly answered by post-Singularity beings.
They will possess not only detailed knowledge of the multiverse, but also the ability to travelling through and manipulate it.
by Rob Falgiano
I’m interested in the paradox at the heart of creation. Let’s assume for the moment that somehow this is the only universe. Where did the matter that makes it up come from and how did it birth itself? If there’s no creator then the birth of the universe is a paradox, a seeming impossibility. If there is a creator you still have a paradox because who created the creator? How could the creator have always existed? These thoughts lead me to believe that existence is absurd (though not necessarily meaningless) and that absurdity is what’s normal. Once you accept absurdity as the natural state life is a lot more fun.
by Foye Lowe
Absurdity, indeed. Whether there wasn’t a universe, and then there was; or, instead, “creation” is merely ongoing change in eternal existence, rather than some sort of beginning or major alteration – in either case, explanation is elusive, and at the very least, premature . . .
by Rob Falgiano
“Ongoing change in eternal existence.” I like this thought and expression. It’s also interesting to me that if we were somehow able to see “before” the Big Bang, or discover existence “outside” this universe it still might not be Ultimate Answer. How could we ever be sure that we’re not the sub-reality of many other layers of sub-realities? So, to your final point, every explanation we might ever arrive at would likely be premature, or conditional pending further information, and we might be chasing an infinite trail like Pi.
by Bri
@Rob: the problem is that we exist in a world of time and space. They are illusions. It’s a hard concept to understand. Think of the Shrodingers cat thought experiment. The cat was neither dead or alive. It’s in all states of existence. That’s what is real. We only see one state of existence at one time. That’s the illusion. String theory helps to understand it. It’s all just waves of information. Like a ringing bell. There are so many frequencies, in so many domains, but it all is combinations of waves of information imprinted on energy. All you have to do now is define what energy actually is, not describe what it does, and define information, not by what it describes, but by how it relates that essence. ( Hint: it’s spirit, not words or mathematics. Those are just vehicles of transmission.) it’s really just relativities. In the beginning of the big bang it was the size of a subatomic particle. Unfathomally small. If nothing existed before, no time or space, then the instant it formed it was unfathomally huge in comparison to nothing. Waves of information to an observer, or as I like to say, gods home movies playing on the holodeck. The infinite manifesting it’s finite nature.
by Rob Falgiano
Your interest thoughts make my head spin, as does the topic generally. I do believe that existence is essentially spirit-based. I still have trouble getting my head around how the absence of time and space would negate the need for a prime mover who sets it all in motion. Maybe one day it will just click suddenly. Either way, I guess the main point I had wanted to make was that existence is absurd, and the absence of existence is absurd. I think we’ve got general agreement on that!
by GrahamRounce
According to Science… “Results from Europe’s Planck spacecraft pose no major new puzzles for cosmologists”
What’s your source? Not New Scientist I hope?
by Editor
Source: ESA, http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Planck/Planck_reveals_an_almost_perfect_Universe (linked from “revealing” in the first sentence). The coverage in Science (http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/03/best-image-of-big-bang-afterglow.html) focused on confirmation of cosmologists’ standard model. The “no major new puzzles” statement is from a teaser on http://news.sciencemag.org/, while the Science article notes that “there is some hope for new puzzles….”
by James Goggin
It seems to me that the BIg Bang Theory has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese. The more it’s tested the worse it looks.
by Pete
Us pre-Singularity human beings, who still live on one single planet, should not call any crude conjectures of ours “Grand Unified Theory” or “Theory of Everything”. It is laughably arrogant.
by humanitarian
While continuous refined measurements yield new anomalies, new theories emerge deleting old ones. The question is how important it is to know precisely when the big bang occurred and how does this knowledge help humanity is not clear!
by Neal
If we continue along the current path, maybe we can eventually observe and rationally explain enough of the universe to shrink the world’s religions to zero. This would be great for humanity.
by Rob
Sure, because atheists like the Soviets and Chinese Communists have been so much less bloodthirsty than believers.
by Pete
Militant atheism (the ones that physically destroys religion and even their followers) may look evil for *a while*, but in the long run, it is actually beneficial. People will not be constrained by rediculous, stupid beliefs.
by Jerry
We will ALWAYS have the crazy fairytale believers, they’ll be the luddites who refuse to assimilate with future technologies and prefer to remain as biologically flawed as we are today.
by Pete
It took a million years to move from counting pebbles to the elaborations of quantum mechanics.
Certainly this was an arduous migration of the multitude — not a private party of physicists, but the Long March of the entire human race.
–Anonymous
by Pete
More quote on science:
“It seems to me that your whole approach to these issues reflects a male, Western, reductionist, left- brained mode of thought. How can you possibly reconcile this with your struggle as an African woman against cultural imperialism?” Mosala replies, “I have no interest in
squandering the most powerful intellectual tools I possess, because of some quaint misconception that they’re the property of any particular people: male, Western, or otherwise.”
Greg Egan, Distress
“The scientific method,” Thomas Henry Huxley once wrote, “is nothing but the normal working of the human mind.” That is to say, when the
mind is working; that is to say further, when it is engaged in corrrecting its mistakes. Taking this point of view, we may conclude that science is not physics, biology, or chemistry–is not even a “subject”–but a moral imperative drawn from a larger narrative whose purpose is to give perspective, balance, and humility to learning.
Neil Postman, The End of Education, 1995
Science is an integral part of culture. It’s not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It’s one of the glories of human intellectual tradition.
– Stephen Jay Gould
Why waste time on fantasy when reality is just as miraculous? Lee Daniel Crocker
If you try to save wisdom until the world is wize, Father, the world will never have it. – A Canticle for Leibowitz
by silentrage
Once you get rid of stupid ridiculous beliefs like an old guy with a long beard that lives in the sky created everything, the next biggest challenge is to get rid of the stupid ridiculous belief that only cold hard matter that register on our instruments and fit our mathematical models actually exist.
by Pommodore 94
I beg to differ, whoever try to IMPOSE their will, no matter how good the intentions are or how good the cause. Is always wrong and destructive. That true for religious zealots and for militant atheists, and everybody else.
by Anthony
There is no command in the communist manifesto to commit genocide.
So, when communists commit it they are acting independent of the manifesto. But the God of the Bible commands genocide. Read – Deuteronomy 7.1-2; 20.16-18. Jews and Christians are killing in accord to their book when they say that God is calling them to slaughter.