Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP, Microwave Anisotropy Probe, MAP, Explorer 80)
(spacecraft that measured variations in the cosmic background radiation)
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
was a NASA Medium-class Explorer Program (MIDEX)
spacecraft measuring the variations in the CMB
(CMB anisotropies).
WMAP was launched in 2001, active, operating at the L2 Earth/Sun
Lagrangian point into 2010, when it was moved out of the way
and turned off.
Its observation data is used for cosmology research, with
results released on two-year intervals, the first (WMAP1)
released in 2005 with a year's data,
through the final 9-year results (WMAP9) released in 2012.
COBE had the same mission earlier, but to less detail,
and Planck is a newer similar mission gathering more detail.
(observatory,spacecraft,NASA,microwave,cosmology,CMB,L2,past)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wmap
https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/wmap.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013ApJS..208...19H/abstract
Referenced by pages:
anisotropy
Bolshoi simulation
CMB surveys
cold spot
Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
dark flow
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Lagrangian point
Planck
Q band
Index