ORG:Data from satellite leaves scinetists in dark

   Arlington, VA. (AP) -- A satellite designed to detect patterns of
cosmic creation has found NOTHING to explain how basic structures in
the universe, such as galaxies and stars, came to exist, researchers
said Saturday.

   . . . . . four scientists said instruments detected none of the
patterns of microwave and infrared radiation that would help explain
how stars and galaxies started forming . . . .

   "I am completely mystified how the present structures (in the
universe came to exist without leaving some trace," said John Mather,
an astronomer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He said the
finding adds to the puzzle . . . .

   It was expected that the three satellite instruments - one for
microwave and two for infrared - would find energy traces of the
violent, superheated processes that formed the stars, galaxies, black
holes, quasars and other structures in the universe. Instead, NASA
researchers said they have found that the infrared and microwave
background is completely "smooth" from year one to 1 million years
after the Big Bang, the period in which star formation is believed to
have begun.

   "We have detected data for a smooth early universe," said George
Smoot of the University of California, Berkely. He said it was hoped
that by studying the fossil radiation from that distant time, COBE (the
satellite) investigators would have answers to what shaped the current
universe, "but instead we just keep making the problem worse."
