Are Flaws in IMAP Data Affecting Our Understanding of Dark Matter?

[godzilla7]

I Read an article about the IMAP data being flawed because of polorizations in our solar system, if this is true does it have implications on the amount of matter we have calculated, and if it does would dark matter be irrelevant, kind of a naive question but the article was a little vague can someone clarify the errors and make a guess at the implications

 

[meteor]

I think that you're are speaking about this information appearing in November:
http://bulletin.cern.ch/eng/articles.php?bullno=48/2004&base=art

"The theorists' new mathematical analysis picks out the large-scale fluctuations from the tumult of the background radiation in maps from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Their reanalysis suggests, surprisingly, that the observed microwave radiation has a foreground superimposed on it from the motion and orientation of our solar system. If so, the researchers say, cosmologists may need to revise their views of the early universe. Using WMAP to estimate the date the first stars formed, for example, depends heavily on the cosmic bass."

Though I don't see how it can have implications in the calculations of dark matter, since dark matter is calculated from diverses sources: the rotation curves of galaxies, N-body experiments,...

 

[Garth]

Though I don't see how it can have implications in the calculations of dark matter, since dark matter is calculated from diverses sources: the rotation curves of galaxies, N-body experiments,...

It's a warning though, not to put too much confidence on a specific interpretation of the WMAP data.

The data may be detailed and precise, but the interpretation put upon it is theory dependent.

Just a thought.

I hope you all had a very Happy Christmas and will have a thoughtful and Happy New Year!

Garth