Excess ellipticity of hot and cold spots in the WMAP data?

Journal Article · Tue Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/779/1/37· OSTI ID:22348550

Berntsen, Eirik

We investigate claims of excess ellipticity of hot and cold spots in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data. Using the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from 7 yr of observations by the WMAP satellite, we find, contrary to previous claims of a 10σ detection of excess ellipticity in the 3 yr data, that the ellipticity of hot and cold spots is perfectly consistent with simulated CMB maps based on the concordance cosmology. We further test for excess obliquity and excess skewness/kurtosis of ellipticity and obliquity and find the WMAP7 data consistent with Gaussian simulated maps.

• OSTI ID: 22348550
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 779, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ANISOTROPY
ASYMMETRY
BACKGROUND RADIATION
COSMOLOGY
DATA ANALYSIS
DETECTION
DISTRIBUTION
MAPS
RELICT RADIATION
SATELLITES
SIMULATION
STATISTICS