Planck (spacecraft)

Common card · No. 275944

Planck was a space observatory operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) from 2009 to 2013. The project aimed to map the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at microwave and infrared frequencies, with high sensitivity and angular resolution. The mission provided data that substantially improved upon previous observations made by the NASA Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The Planck observatory was a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues. One of its key objectives was to test cosmological theories about the early Universe, its composition and evolution, and the origin of cosmic structure. Planck was initially called COBRAS/SAMBA, which stands for the Cosmic Background Radiation Anisotropy Satellite/Satellite for Measurement of Background Anisotropies. The project started in 1996, and it was later renamed in honor of the German physicist Max Planck (1858–1947), who is widely regarded as the originator of quantum...

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