The cosmic microwave background can help scientists piece together the history of the universe. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

A: In the standard Big Bang model, the universe evolved from a state in which it was extremely hot, dense, and opaque, and it has been expanding (and cooling) ever since. In the cosmos’ early history, ...

So much happened in the earliest moments of the universe. Elementary particles appeared, the first nuclei of hydrogen and helium, and fluctuations of energy and matter set into motion the formation of ...

The earliest galaxies may have scrambled our reading of the Universe. A new study challenges the traditional interpretation of the cosmic microwave background, this fossil light from the Big Bang.

A glow undetectable to the human eye permeates the universe. This light is the remnant signature of the cosmic beginning — a dense, hot fireball that burst forth and created all mass, energy, and time ...