High-Definition Images Give Us Earliest Look at Birth of the Universe

Learn more about the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the images of the infant universe it captured.

By Monica Cull
Mar 18, 2025 8:45 PMMar 18, 2025 8:42 PM
Creation of the universe
This image is not associated with the study. (Image Credit: FlashMovie/Shutterstock)

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New findings from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration may have just unveiled the sharpest images of the universe as an infant. After measuring light that traveled 13 billion light years to Earth, the images reveal the universe at about 380,000 years old — the equivalent of an image of a human baby only mere hours old. 

The new findings come from several international pre-peer-reviewed studies, set to be presented later in March 2025. According to the study researchers, this view of the universe is the earliest cosmic time currently available to humans. 

Atacama Cosmology Telescope’s High-Res Images 

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