A team of American and Canadian astronomers dramatically strengthened the case for a big bang creation (thoroughly biblical1) when they released the latest map of radiation left over from the cosmic origin event.2 The team made public their analysis based on three years' continuous observations of that cosmic background radiation via satellite-the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). This analysis, by far the most thorough and detailed to date, yields five independent confirmations of the hot big bang creation model.3
This hot big bang model proposes that the continuous and relatively constant expansion of the universe from an actual beginning of space, time, matter, and energy was interrupted by a very brief period of extremely rapid expansion when the universe was less than a quadrillionth of a quadrillionth of a second old. This hyper-inflation of the early universe would explain how the universe remains thermally connected. Because of its ability to provide the first-ever full-sky picture of the background radiation's polarization, the WMAP was able to determine with remarkable certainty that early, rapid inflation did indeed occur.4
According to the hot big bang creation model, a certain fraction of the universe's hydrogen fused into helium during the first four minutes after the beginning. WMAP data allows astronomers to calculate what that fraction would be if the hot big bang creation model is correct. This fraction can then be compared with the observed and measured abundance of helium in the universe's first-born stars. The measured helium percentage in the first-formed stars is 0.249 ± 0.009.5 The WMAP figure is 0.24815 ± 0.00033.6 Such a remarkable fit between the expected abundance and the observed abundance makes for a potent proof of the model.
"Quintessence" is a catchall term for as yet unknown constants or laws of physics or for yet unseen variations in one or more constants of physics. Astronomers tend to invoke these as a way around (or at least to reduce) the phenomenal level of design required by their findings about cosmic mass density and dark energy density. Astronomers proposed a way to determine the "possible" level of quintessence, and that way was to measure something they called the w parameter. The new WMAP data permits the first accurate measurement of this w parameter. If quintessence does not exist, the w parameter should = 1.0. If quintessence does exist, the w parameter will diverge significantly from 1.0. According to the WMAP results, w = 0.97 ± 0.08.7 This measurement allows little room to escape the extraordinary level of design in the cosmic mass density and dark energy density.
Galactic seed confirmation
In big bang cosmology, hot spots in the radiation left over from the cosmic creation event are thought to serve as the "seeds" around which galaxies and galaxy clusters form. The new WMAP results are so detailed that astronomers can closely compare, for the first time, the locations of hot spots in the radiation with the locations of galaxies and galaxy clusters, as observed in such studies as the recent Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These comparisons reveal a precise match.
The WMAP results also allow the most accurate measure to date of how much time has passed since the cosmic creation event. That figure is 13.73 ± 0.15 billion years.8 The extension of decimal places and shrinking error bar confirm a prediction of big bang cosmology-the prediction that ongoing research will yield increasing consistency and decreasing disparity among the various cosmic age measurements.
By these five independent tests, the new WMAP results potently challenge speculative attempts to escape the conclusion that an Agent beyond space and time created the universe and exquisitely designed it so that humans can exist. Like so many other breakthrough discoveries in astronomy, the latest WMAP findings support the premise that scientific advance is an ally, not an enemy, to the Christian's faith.