For the more distant parts of the Universe, Planck itself can do the test.

BBC: Science & Environment

During his presentation at Cambridge last week (see last post), Professor Paul Shellard mentioned that the new Planck data render many cyclic models, including the ekpyrotic universe, a lot less likely.

FORBES: Cosmic Inflation Model Gets A Boost From Planck Data

"By the matching observations from Planck to predictions from models, we can assemble a surprisingly detailed picture of the universe as it was one nano-nano-nano-nanosecond after the Big Bang, " said Marc Kamionkowski, professor of physics and astronomy at John Hopkins University.

CNN: Better 'baby picture' of universe emerges

That is very important for Herschel and Planck which will both be investigating aspects of the "cold Universe".

BBC: World's most daunting parking job

Scientists used data from Planck to create an artificially colored map of temperature variations across the sky in the early universe, in more detail than ever before.

CNN: Better 'baby picture' of universe emerges

Europe's Planck telescope, which last week showed us a picture of the oldest light streaming across the Universe, has another trick up its sleeve.

BBC: Planck telescope: A map of all the 'stuff' in the cosmos

New data from the Planck satellite suggests very good news for proponents of the standard Big Bang cosmological model of the universe.

FORBES: Cosmic Inflation Model Gets A Boost From Planck Data

Because the early universe is believed to have undergone a period of rapid inflation, features that were Planck-scale may have been magnified to the point where they are visible as blips in the cosmic microwave background, an electromagnetic echo of the Big Bang.

ECONOMIST: Planck-scale physics

The Planck mission helps to nail down many of the parameters that other experiments must know to explore aspects of the universe, such as its expansion history, White said.

CNN: Better 'baby picture' of universe emerges