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Cosmology: The test of inflation

Nature volume 458, pages 820–824 (2009)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 29 April 2009

As the launch of the Planck spacecraft approaches, Eric Hand investigates what the mission could mean for the predominant theory of the moments after the Big Bang.

Space is cold. But Planck will be even colder. At the heart of the European Space Agency spacecraft, chilled to 0.1 kelvin by the most sophisticated cryogenic system ever put into space, a collection of gossamer threads will be suspended in near vacuum. These threads, looking like an array of spiderwebs, will gather photons from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) — the afterglow of the Universe's creation.

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  1. Eric Hand
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Hand, E. Cosmology: The test of inflation. Nature 458, 820–824 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458820a

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