Planck is one of the ESA’s most ambitious scientific missions to observe the oldest light in the Universe. It was designed to image the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation field over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. Planck has tested theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure, and provided a major source of information relevant to many cosmological and astrophysical issues.
On 17th July 2018, the best map ever made of the CMB has been publicly released by the Planck collaboration. It shows tiny temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of slightly different densities, representing the seeds of all future structure: the stars and galaxies of today. These fluctuations offer great insight into the origin, evolution, and content of the universe.
Dr. Soumen Basak, an Associate Professor of School of Physics of IISER TVM, is a leading member of the group of scientists dedicated to the high precision measurement of the CMB and has made immense contributions to the success of this mission.
Papers: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/planck/publications
Gruber Cosmology Prize 2018:
https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/news/read_news/448