美国宇航局太空网评出2003年十佳天文图片

7：测量宇宙

　　当然了，以传统的方式，宇宙微波背景(CMB)不可能生产如此美丽的图片，但你肯定见过不少所谓的抽象艺术，它们远没有这张图片有意思。

　　CMB是宇宙诞生时遗留下来的辐射物，它通过宇宙静静地作出回应，就象是大爆炸的幽灵。今年，美国宇航局一部新的太空望远镜对CMB进行了非常细致的测量，天文学家根据测量数据可以肯定地估算出宇宙的年龄(137亿年)以及第一批恒星形成的时间(在大爆炸之后2亿年。恒星形成的速度如此之快，令人吃惊)。这张到处都是"泡"的图片展示了瞬间温度的变化，也被用来确定宇宙中日常的暗物质的数量。

7. Measuring the Cosmos

Sure, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) does not make for pretty pictures in the traditional sense. But I've seen abstract art that was far less interesting than this image.

The CMB is radiation left over from the earliest epoch of the universe, echoing silently through the cosmos like a ghost of the Big Bang.

Detailed measurements of the CMB this year by a new NASA space observatory gave astronomers their first firm estimate for the age of the universe (13.7 billion years) and for when the first stars were born (a surprisingly quick 200 million years after the Big Bang). The blotchy image, showing minute temperature variations, also was used to confirm the amount of regular versus dark matter in the cosmos.