spacetoday.net: ESA releases first Planck results

Posted: Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 6:57 AM ET (1157 GMT)
Planck spacecraft illustration (ESA)

The European Space Agency released this week the first results from its Planck infrared observatory spacecraft. The results include a catalog of cold objects visible at the millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths Planck observes at. The findings includes a population of galaxies shrouded in dust billions of light-years away that are otherwise invisible. The Planck data also provides new insights on the "anomalous microwave emission" associated with the Milky Way galaxy, indicating that emission comes from dust particles set spinning at billions of revolutions per second after collisions with high-speed particles or ultraviolet light. Astronomers plan to use this catalog to refine future observations by the space telescope that will provide the best observations yet of the cosmic microwave background.