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This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), simulation of results from t
This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), simulation of results from the Planck space observatory. The CMB, the relic radiation from the Big Bang, permeates the whole Universe in all directions. However, the temperature of the CMB radiation is not completely uniform. There are tiny variations, or fluctuations, which reveal the initial conditions of the Universe, the first seeds of the structures, such as galaxies, that we observe today. Planck, which was launched on 14 May 2009, will be able to measure these temperature fluctuations more accurately than any previous missions.
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