About Planck
Location
In orbit around the earth at a distance of
1.5 million km in the Second Lagrangian
point (L2)
Affiliation
Funded by the European Space Agency.
Objectives
•To accurately determine the amount and
make-up of dark energy and dark matter
in the Universe.
• To find out how and why rapid
expansion of the universe occurred and
why it continues today along with its
effects
• To look for primordial gravitational
waves which would present proof of the
universe’s expansion
• To identify possible irregularities in
space that would show evidence of
differences in the early universe.
• To study the cosmic microwave
background to provide insight into the
early universe and the structures that
were first created. The wavelengths of
the microwave background should
provide details about the creation of the
earliest stars in the universe
• To examine the Milky Way and other
distant galaxies to determined how they
create stars. To look at how galaxies
form and their path of evolution
Instruments
The Planck is composed of two main
instruments:
the
Low
Frequency
Instrument and the High Frequency
Instrument.
• While
both
instruments
look
at
wavelengths of light, the Low Frequency
Instrument is limited to light of 10.7 and 4
mm, while the High Frequency Instrument
observes light wavelengths at 3 and 0.3
mm.
•Both instruments contain detectors which
gather microwave and radio light, then
change it to detailed maps of the microwave
sky.
•The telescope is classified as a Gregorian
Telescope, which reflects light using two
mirrors that are off-axis
The Primary mirror is 1.9 x 1.5 m
The Secondary mirror is 1.1 x 1.0 m
Mission
Full Name
Organization
Launch Date
Mission Length
Major
Improvements
COBE
Cosmic Background
Explorer
NASA
November 18, 1989
Approx. 4 years
n/a
The Planck Mission: Looking into the
Past to Learn about Our Future
Courtney Nickle, Stephanie Clark and Taylor Phillips
Astronomy, Spring 2011
Abstract
What is the Cosmic
Microwave
Background (CMB)?
Radiation that we observe
from
the
era
of
Recombination,
approximately 380,000 years
after the Big Bang.
On May 14, 2009, the European Space Agency, in part with NASA,
launched the Planck Mission in hopes to answer many of the questions that still
linger about our Universe. By studying the cosmic microwave background, the
Planck Mission’s main goal is to determine how the Universe began, how it
evolved to where it is now, and where it is headed in the future. Through the
high-resolution images of the entire sky, the cosmic microwave background
provides a glimpse of unknown processes, such as the complexity of star
formation. By measuring the temperature variations across the microwave
background with improved sensitivity, angular resolution, and frequency range
than has been achieved before, Planck will provide us with a unique look into the
Universe when it was just 380,000 years old.
Through our research, we will examine the instruments and how they differ
from past NASA and ESA missions. We will also look to study how the mission
will achieve its goals and objectives.
CMB anisotropy shows us
homogeneous
Miscellaneous Facts
•The mission, which is named after
German physicist Max Planck.
•Planck was originally called
COMBRAS/SAMBA.
•Planck is able to detect data in
nine different wavelengths ranging
from infrared to radio waves.
•Even though the results will not be
published and made ready for
public consumption for two years,
certain observations and pictures
are making their debut.
•So far Planck has observed 10,000
star forming “cold cores” and
14,000 smaller galaxy clusters.
Top Picture (right): Clusters
are going to have high
temperatures
and
dark
energy; however, Voids have
lower temperatures and are
composed of less dark energy.
Bottom Picture (right): This
figure shows the order of
missions studying the Cosmic
Microwave Background and
their improvements on their
resolution.
WMAP
Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe
NASA
June 30, 2001
9 years, 8 months, 17
days (elapsed)
45x more sensitive
and 35x the angular
resolution compared
to COBE
Top Picture (above): This shows if our universe were open then the angle
would be smaller and therefore, curved inward.
Middle Picture (above): When a photon falls into dark matter, it gains energy.
When climbing out, the photon loses more power than gained due to the
expansion of dark energy; often times, causing a blueshift.
Bottom Picture (above): Previously observing the Cosmic Microwave
Background, missions like WMAP tended to carry a large margin of error as can
be seen in this figure. Planck aims to improve expanding its spectrum and
reducing it’s margin of error.
References
Planck
Planck
ESA
May 14, 2009
1 year, 10 months, 9
days (elapsed)
3x the power
spectrum and 10x
more sensitive
compared to WMAP
Planck
Big Bang Noise. Wikipedia. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BigBangNoise.jpg).
Cartwright, Jon. The most direct signal of dark energy?. Institute of Physics. (8 Aug 2008).
(http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/35368).
ESAPortal. European Space Agency. (24 March 2011). (http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html).
Long, Nick. WMAP and the Cosmic Microwave Background. University of Denver.
(https://portfolio.du.edu/portfolio/getportfoliofile?uid=172191).
Minimalistic Dark Matter. Particle Theory Blog. (12 July 2007).
(http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html).
NASA: More Than You Imagine. SpaceRef. (2011).
(http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=32497).
The Planck Mission. Cardiff University. (9 March 2011). (http://planck.cf.ac.uk/mission).
Research Scientific Home Page. European Space Agency. (3 Feb 2011). (http://www.rssd.esa.int).
Strobel, Nick. Cosmology. Astronomy Notes. (9 June 2010).
(http://www.astronomynotes.com/cosmolgy/s10.htm).
*Thank you to Dr. Krishna Muhkerjee and her assistance throughout the
duration of this project!