Planck

In Europe's first mission to study the birth of the Universe, Planck will survey the sky, with unprecedented resolution and frequency coverage, providing the sharpest picture ever of the Universe when it was only 380 000 years old. The mission will measure with high accuracy the age of the Universe and the total amount of normal and dark matter. Planck will also unveil fundamental features about the origin and evolution of cosmic structure from its nearly uniform beginnings to the complex cosmic web of galaxies and clusters of galaxies that surrounds us now.
Planck is equipped with a powerful 1.5-metre telescope and carries two instruments, the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and the High Frequency Instrument (HFI), that act like extremely sensitive thermometers to detect slight temperature variations in the Universe. Canada has developed sophisticated analysis software for studying the complex data streams from the satellite. The software was designed in parallel by the University of British Columbia for LFI and the University of Toronto for HFI.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• satellite
• time
• machine
• universe
• ESA