Planck delivers today its first cosmic findings!

Scientific and space communities are about to find out the first all-sky images of the Cosmic Microwave Background.

Launched on May 2009, Planck to deliver its first results today at a press conference held in Paris ESA HQ, between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. The results will allow cosmologists to zero-in on theories that describe the Universe's birth and its evolution to the present day.
You can follow the press conference and the result in live thanks to the link hereinafter: www.esa.int (conference in English).

Air Liquide contributed to the design of Planck by the development of a diluted coolant to reach extremely low temperatures, approaching absolute zero (-273.15°C). In order to detect the weakest signals, the instruments have to be operating at a very low and stable temperature of 0.1 Kelvin ("K"), or one tenth of a degree above absolute zero. The technologies developed for the diluted coolant insured a continuous functioning and no vibration or magnetic fields that may disrupt the observations. For this exceptional project, teams at Air Liquide worked in close collaboration with experts from the Néel Institute (CNRS, National Center for Scientific Research, France) and the Space Astrophysics Institute (IAS) on behalf of the National Center for Space Studies (CNES, France).
Air Liquide is involved in significant international scientific projects that will shape our future, and Planck results are the opportunity to reiterate its commitment to supporting the scientific community by developing innovative technologies that are helping to push back the frontiers of knowledge.