Most precise snapshot of the universe unveiled

Planck telescope fine-tunes numbers that define the cosmos

all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background

BIG SKY  An all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background from the Planck space telescope shows subtle temperature fluctuations (red is warmer, blue cooler) that were present 380,000 years after the Big Bang.  

Planck Collaboration/ESA

From a palace in Ferrara, Italy, cosmologists have unveiled the most detailed maps yet of the infant universe.