| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Robert Karl Stonjek" |
| Date: |
20 Oct 2005 03:59:18 PM |
| Object: |
Article: 'Axis of evil' warps cosmic background |
'Axis of evil' warps cosmic background
22 October 2005
Marcus Chown
Magazine issue 2522
A MYSTERIOUS pattern seen in the cosmic microwave background - the faint
afterglow of the big bang - has left some physicists wondering whether this
central plank in the evidence for the big bang is somehow flawed. But now
there may be a simpler explanation for the pattern: "It is being caused by
the gravity of a tremendous concentration of galaxies in our cosmic
backyard," says Chris Vale of Fermilab in Chicago and the University of
California, Berkeley.
Dubbed the "axis of evil" by cosmologist Joćo Magueijo of Imperial College
London, the pattern appears in the map of the microwave backtround (CMB)
built up by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). As part of
their analysis, astronomers break up the subtle temperature variations in
the CMB into components called the dipole, the quadrupole and the octupole
(see Graphic), like breaking up an orchestral score into tunes played by
different ...
Full Text at NewScientist (Requires Subscription)
http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/mg18825224.400
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