Clearest images yet of 380,000-year-old universe reveal cosmic infancy

Telescope reveals earliest-ever 'baby pictures' of the universe: 'We can see right back through cosmic history'

New observations with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile reveal the earliest-ever "baby pictures" of our universe, showing some of the oldest light we can possibly see.

Bridging the Gap Between the Cosmic Microwave Background and the First Galaxies

One of the Holy Grails in cosmology is a look back at the earliest epochs of cosmic history. Unfortunately, the Universe's first few hundred thousand years are shrouded in an impenetrable fog. So far, nobody's been able to see past it to the Big Bang. As it turns out, astronomers are chipping away at that cosmic fog by using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in Chile.

In Pictures: A remarkable image of a scientific event every week Video ACT Collaboration; ESA/Planck Collaboration With a shutter speed of…

New 'baby pictures' of the cosmos show the universe in its infancy

If our 13.8 billion-year-old cosmos could be considered middle-aged, researchers note these new images captured around its 380,000th birthday represent a snapshot of the universe as a newborn.(Image credit: ACT Collaboration; ESA / Planck Collaboration)

Universe's First Light Captured in Clearest Image Ever

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope that captured the clearest image of the universe’s first light. Credit: M. Devlin / CC BY-SA 4.0 Scientists using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) have captured the clearest images of the universe’s first light, revealing unprecedented details about its structure and expansion. The telescope, positioned high in the Chilean Andes, recorded light that traveled more than 13 billion years, offering a glimpse of t…

Scientists Take "Baby Picture" of the Infant Universe and Then Weigh It. Here's What Its First 380,000 Years Tell Us

If today's Universe were an adult human, at 380,000 years old it would be only a few hours old.