WMAP
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Astronomy & Space
| Stands for | Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
WMAP stands for Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, an astronomy & Space abbreviation.
NASA spacecraft that mapped temperature differences in the cosmic microwave background from 2001 to 2010. WMAP pinned down the age of the universe at about 13.77 billion years and measured its composition of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy with unprecedented precision.
Example: WMAP data showed the universe is geometrically flat to within about half a percent.
Usage notes
It was named after Princeton cosmologist David Wilkinson, a mission scientist who died in 2002. WMAP orbited the Sun-Earth L2 point. Its results were refined by ESA's Planck satellite (2009-2013), and the team received the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Related abbreviations
More astronomy & Space abbreviations
- AGN – Active galactic nucleus
- ALMA – Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
- AU – Astronomical unit
- BBN – Big Bang nucleosynthesis
- BH – Black hole
- CMB – Cosmic microwave background
- CME – Coronal mass ejection
- CNSA – China National Space Administration
- COBE – Cosmic Background Explorer
- CSM – Command and Service Module
- DART – Double Asteroid Redirection Test
- DE – Dark energy