New research by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration has produced the clearest images yet of the universe’s infancy—the earliest cosmic time currently accessible to humans. Measuring light that travelled for more than 13 billion years to reach a telescope high in the Chilean Andes, the telescope’s images reveal the universe when it was about 380,000 years old—the equivalent of hours-old baby pictures of a now middle-aged cosmos.
This achievement marks ACT’s sixth and final data release (DR6), offering the clearest images yet of the baby universe.
“Our collaboration built the telescope over 15 years ago with several upgrades to the cameras to take advantage of new technologies.” says Mark Devlin, the Reese W. Flower Professor of Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania and ACT deputy director. “We completed the project on a high note, and we could not be more pleased with the results.”