CMB tagged posts

3-D printed early universe. Credit: Image courtesy of Imperial College London

Researchers have created a 3D printed cosmic microwave background – a map of the oldest light in the universe — and provided the files for download. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a glow that the universe has in the microwave range that maps the oldest light in the universe. It was imprinted when the universe first became transparent, instead of an opaque fog of plasma and radiation. The CMB formed when the universe was only 380,000 years old – very early on in its 13.8 billion-year history.

The Planck satellite is making ever-more detailed maps of the CMB, which tells astronomers more about the early universe and the formation of structures within it, such as galaxies...

In an artist’s conception, heated galactic wind shown in the hazy portion of the picture emanates from the bright quasar at the edge of a black hole, scattering dust and gas. If allowed to cool and condense, that dust and gas would instead begin to form stars. Credit: Johns Hopkins University

Quasars slowed star formation new research shows. It appears intense radiation and galaxy-scale winds emitted by the quasars – the most luminous objects in the universe – heats up clouds of dust and gas. The heat prevents that material from cooling and forming more dense clouds, and eventually stars.

They looked at information on 17,468 galaxies and found a tracer of energy called the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect...