(See description below)
The Sky in Microwave Frequencies
This image of the microwave sky was synthesized using data
spanning the range of light frequencies detected by Planck. These low
frequencies, which cannot be seen with the human eye, cover the range of 30 to
857 gigahertz.
The grainy structure of the cosmic microwave background, with its tiny
temperature fluctuations reflecting the density variations from which the cosmic
web of our universe originated, is clearly visible in the high-latitude regions
of the map.
A vast portion of the sky, extending well above and below the galactic plane, is
dominated by the diffuse emission from gas and dust in our Milky Way galaxy.
While the galactic foreground hides the cosmic microwave background signal from
our view, it also highlights the extent of our galaxy's large-scale structure.
Although the two main components of the microwave sky appear to be separable
only in certain areas, a foreground removal over the entire sky is possible
thanks to sophisticated image analysis techniques, which have been developed by
the Planck scientific teams. These techniques rely on the observatory's unique
frequency coverage and the unprecedented accuracy of its measurements.
This image is derived from data collected by Planck during its first all-sky
survey, and covers about 12 months of observations.