AstroBulletin showcases cutting-edge research at the South Pole

For decades, cosmology, the study of the origin and evolution of the universe, garnered little support within the scientific community because few believed there was enough direct evidence to support such inquiry. Today, however, it is generally agreed among both astronomers and physicists that the universe was created some 10 to 20 billion years ago in an explosion dubbed the "Big Bang."

But how can we know about an event that took place so long ago? The cosmic microwave background (CMB)--called a "background" because it is detectable from every direction across the sky--is a whisper of microwave radiation, a vast curtain of energy. By identifying and observing the CMB, scientists are able to draw conclusions about the distant history of our universe, as far back as its creation. The pervasiveness and uniformity of the radiation throughout the universe suggests that it remains from a time when the universe was significantly hotter and denser than it is now, supporting the notion of a Big Bang-type origin.

Scientists from the University of Chicago's Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA) are studying the CMB at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Taking advantage of Antarctica's long winters, dry conditions, and endless sky, they are making what are arguably the most detailed measurements ever of the CMB, thereby building a body of data that will increase our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe.

In December 2001, Vivian Trakinski and Jason Lelchuk, members of the Museum's Science Bulletins production team, journeyed to the South Pole to visit the scientific team working there. Their short film, Cosmic Microwave Background: The New Cosmology, takes viewers to this forbidding place and shows how scientists are unraveling the story of the universe.

Produced as part of the Rose Center's AstroBulletin program, Cosmic Microwave Background: The New Cosmology will be screened at the Museum during regular Museum hours through June 2003 in the Black Hole Theater of the Frederick Phineas & Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Hall of the Universe. More information about the CMB will be featured on AstroBulletin kiosks in the Cullman Hall of the Universe.

The AstroBulletin employs high-definition video, computer animations, and images from satellites, observatories, NASA, and the Hubble Space Telescope to dramatize cosmic events, explain astronomical concepts, and report recent discoveries in the field of astrophysics. Cosmic Microwave Background: The New Cosmology and other elements of the AstroBulletin are made available to museums, science centers, planetariums, and other public spaces nationwide and around the world.

The AstroBulletin is generously supported by Toyota Motor North America, Inc. Significant educational and programming support is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).