Unearthing fossils from the Big Bang: the Cosmic Microwave Background

Mapa da radiação cósmica de fundo de micro-ondas

No mapa da radiação cósmica de fundo de micro-ondas, as cores indicam pequenas flutuações de temperatura que correspondem a variações de densidade de matéria – as pequenas sementes da estrutura do Universo. Créditos: ESA and the Planck Collaboration

There’s a light that fills the whole Universe. It’s the oldest light, the first radiation to travel freely across the Cosmos. It is named the cosmic microwave background radiation and, as a fossil, it is an image from the past, with information about the origins and up to the first galaxies.

Article by Elsa Teixeira, in partnership with National Geographic Portugal.

Full article (in Portuguese) and on the National Geographic Portugal website (in Portuguese)