Space
Planck Satellite Reveals New Data on Dark Energy and Gravitation Theory
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Mar 09, 2015 07:28 AM EDT
Scientists have gained some new insights into dark energy and the theory of gravitation by analyzing data from the Planck satellite mission. The new findings reveal that the standard model of cosmology is still an excellent description of the universe, but there are several deviations that need to be studied. In fact, the anomalies may challenge Einstein's theory of gravitation.
From 2009 to 2013, the Planck satellite took measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in our universe. The CMB is radiation that originated about 13 billion years ago, which is about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Due to the expansion of the Big Bang, the light is observable at microwave wavelengths across the entire sky. Now, scientists are taking a closer look at the CMB measurements.
"Precise measurements of cosmic microwave radiation reveal minute differences in temperature," said Valeria Pettorino, junior research group leader, in a news release. "On a celestial map, these temperature fluctuations look like small specks. Every speck is a region of somewhat higher or lower temperature."
While data from the CMB shows that dark energy is required, its composition remains unclear. The scientists used the latest satellite data to put various theories to the test that take dark energy into account. They surprisingly found just how much dark energy existed in the past.
"Surprisingly, the amount of early dark energy was significantly less than we expected," said Pettorino. "So far, it had been assumed that dark energy comprised a maximum of one percent of all energy at the time the microwave background radiation was released. But the new Planck results indicate that it could have been no more than .4 percent."
These findings, in particular, are a big problem for the theoretical models of dark energy; these models predicted a significantly higher amount of energy for the early universe. Not only that, but the data also revealed small disruptions in gravity itself that are not completely consistent with the standard model of cosmology.
"Further study might enable to find out whether we are really dealing with deviations from Einstein's law of gravity that require a return to the drawing board," said Pettorino.
The findings are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
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First Posted: Mar 09, 2015 07:28 AM EDT
Scientists have gained some new insights into dark energy and the theory of gravitation by analyzing data from the Planck satellite mission. The new findings reveal that the standard model of cosmology is still an excellent description of the universe, but there are several deviations that need to be studied. In fact, the anomalies may challenge Einstein's theory of gravitation.
From 2009 to 2013, the Planck satellite took measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in our universe. The CMB is radiation that originated about 13 billion years ago, which is about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Due to the expansion of the Big Bang, the light is observable at microwave wavelengths across the entire sky. Now, scientists are taking a closer look at the CMB measurements.
"Precise measurements of cosmic microwave radiation reveal minute differences in temperature," said Valeria Pettorino, junior research group leader, in a news release. "On a celestial map, these temperature fluctuations look like small specks. Every speck is a region of somewhat higher or lower temperature."
While data from the CMB shows that dark energy is required, its composition remains unclear. The scientists used the latest satellite data to put various theories to the test that take dark energy into account. They surprisingly found just how much dark energy existed in the past.
"Surprisingly, the amount of early dark energy was significantly less than we expected," said Pettorino. "So far, it had been assumed that dark energy comprised a maximum of one percent of all energy at the time the microwave background radiation was released. But the new Planck results indicate that it could have been no more than .4 percent."
These findings, in particular, are a big problem for the theoretical models of dark energy; these models predicted a significantly higher amount of energy for the early universe. Not only that, but the data also revealed small disruptions in gravity itself that are not completely consistent with the standard model of cosmology.
"Further study might enable to find out whether we are really dealing with deviations from Einstein's law of gravity that require a return to the drawing board," said Pettorino.
The findings are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone