Noteworthy news for today is the announcement by the ESA (European Space Agency) that the Planck Satellite has completed its 360 deg sweep of the universe after 6 months. Brief description of the Planck Satellite and its sister ship, the Herschel and their missions can be seen in the video below.
Description of the image from ESA:
The main disc of our Galaxy runs across the centre of the image. Immediately striking are the streamers of cold dust reaching above and below the Milky Way. This galactic web is where new stars are being formed, and Planck has found many locations where individual stars are edging toward birth or just beginning their cycle of development.
Less spectacular but perhaps more intriguing is the mottled backdrop at the top and bottom. This is the ‘cosmic microwave background radiation’ (CMBR). It is the oldest light in the Universe, the remains of the fireball out of which our Universe sprang into existence 13.7 billion years ago.
The two satellites are orbiting at the L2 Lagrange point. If that sounds recently familiar that's because that is also where Celestial Being's (Gundam 00) secret bases are located *snicker*
After looking at that image, kinda makes you feel
