Echoes of the Early Universe

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Text, News From The Universe. December 7, 2020. The Earth spis.
 
Text, Echoes of the Early Universe. December 7, 22.Animation Credit AS slash GSFC.
 
Shortly after the universe began, its denser areas spurred sound waves that rippled through hot plasma.
 
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[COSMIC MUSIC]
 
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Once neutral atoms formed, the ripples froze in place, leaving concentrated matter in their locations.
 
The echo of those ripples can still be detected in the distribution of galaxies.
 
Galaxy distribution holds clues to the mystery of dark energy - how and when it accelerated the expansion of the universe, which stretched the frozen sound waves.

New calculations show that NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be capable of surveying galaxy distribution in the young, very distant universe.
 
The Roman Space Telescope data will be used to create a 3D map of the universe to help decipher how dark energy has influenced the cosmos over time.
 
This news was brought to you in part by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD