After the Big Bang

Supposedly this represents the remains of a fireball from 13.7 billion years ago.

But don't forget: "Experts" and self-appointed climatologists tell us we've got only a few years left to save the planet. Click the image to enlarge and go to the link for another view.

This is the oldest light in the Universe.

This incredible image shows the remains of the fireball out of which our Universe sprang into existence 13.7 billion years ago.

It provides scientists with new insight into the way stars and galaxies form but also tells us how the Universe itself came to life after the Big Bang.

It was produced by a European space telescope called Planck and is the mission's first 'all-sky' image which took six months to create.

While the Milky Way shows us what the local Universe looks like now, the microwaves in the background of this image show us what the Universe probably looked like close to its time of creation, before there were stars or galaxies.

'This is the moment that Planck was conceived for,' says ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood.

'We’re not giving the answer. We are opening the door to an Eldorado where scientists can seek the nuggets that will lead to deeper understanding of how our Universe came to be and how it works now.

'The image itself and its remarkable quality is a tribute to the engineers who built and have operated Planck. Now the scientific harvest must begin.'

From the closest portions of the Milky Way to the furthest reaches of space and time, the new all-sky Planck image is an extraordinary treasure chest of new data for astronomers.

The main disc of our Galaxy runs across the centre of the image. Immediately striking are the streamers of cold dust reaching above and below the Milky Way.

This galactic web is where new stars are being formed, and Planck has found many locations where individual stars are edging toward birth or just beginning their cycle of development.