WMAP Resolves the Universe
			
		
		
			Credit:  
WMAP Science Team, 
NASA
		
		
			Analyses of a new high-resolution map of 
microwave light emitted only 380,000 years after the 
Big Bang appear to define 
our universe 
more precisely than ever before.  
The eagerly awaited results from the orbiting 
Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe resolve several 
long-standing disagreements in 
cosmology rooted in less precise data.  
Specifically, 
present analyses of 
above WMAP all-sky image 
indicate that the universe is 13.7 billion years old 
(accurate to 1 percent), composed of 73 percent 
dark energy, 23 percent 
cold 
dark matter, and only 4 percent 
atoms, 
is currently expanding at the rate of 71 km/sec/Mpc (accurate to 5 percent), 
underwent episodes of rapid expansion called 
inflation, and will 
expand forever.  
Astronomers will likely research the 
foundations and 
implications of
these results for years to come.