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2006 Cosmic Times

This poster is the sixth edition of Cosmic Times, with the publication date chosen to encompass the discovery of dark energy, which is a puzzling new component of our Universe which had been undetected until 1997. Since that first discovery, astronomers have confirmed its presence and its overwhelming abundance in our Universe. This edition discusses some of the most recent pieces of evidence for dark energy and NASA's future plans for pinning down its elusive nature. In so doing, we return to the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and show more detailed map of the early Universe as observed by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotroy Probe (WMAP). In addition, the Nobel Prize is awarded to the pair of scientists responsible for the two main science results of COBE, which we introduced in the 1993 Cosmic Times.

• Download 2006 poster, newsletters, and glossary
• Teacher's Guide to the 2006 articles
• 2006 Lessons

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2006 Article Overview

Age of Universe: 13.7 Billion Years
Size of Universe: 94 Billion Light Years

Article	Thread	Summary
Faster Walk on the Dark Side	Expanding Universe	Recent observations have confirmed the 1997 discovery that the Universe is expanding at an increasing rate. These new observations also show the relative abundances of dark energy, dark matter, and ordinary matter.
Seeds of Modern Universe	Expanding Universe	Another satellite charged with studying the Cosmic Microwave Background has returned a detailed baby picture of the Universe, with the seeds of moder structures finally coming through.
Biggest Mystery: What is Dark Energy?	Expanding Universe	The nature of dark energy is still a puzzle, with several theories in current contention, including the cosmological constant and quintessence.
Sidebar: Sorting Out the Dark Stuff	--	A brief description to clarify the difference between "dark energy" and "dark matter" – two very different unseen components of the Universe.
'First Light' Wins Nobel	--	The scientists responsible for the first detailed spectrum and map of the cosmic microwave background are honored with the Nobel prize for physics.
Journey to Cosmos' Dark Heart	--	NASA plans to study the nature of dark energy in more detail by collecting data for ever-more-distant supernovae. Three satellite missions are currently in contention.

2006 Lesson Overview

Activity	Summary	Grade		Discipline
		MS	HS
Measuring Dark Energy	Students simulate an experiment in which the discovery of dark energy can be made by plotting modern supernova distances on a Hubble Diagram.		x	Physics, Astronomy
Tools of the Trade	Students explore the telescopes and technologies that will shape our understanding of the Universe in the coming years.		x	Physics, Astronomy
Cosmic Times 2019	Students predict the next discoveries that will shape our understanding of the nature of the expanding Universe as they write the 100th anniversary edition of Cosmic Times.	x	x	Physics, Astronomy, Multi-disciplinary
Things Are Not What They Seem	Students explore a discrepent event by designing experiments to test what makes a a "come back can" return or UV beads change color.	x	x	Physics, Astronomy
Century Timeline	Students create a timeline of world events from 1905 through 2006, the years encompassed by the Cosmic Times posters, to get a sense of the history surrounding the discoveries over the past century.	x	x	Multi-disciplinary