Full-sky Map Of The Oldest Light In The Universe Spacecraft:   Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Produced by:   NASA/WMAP Science Team Copyright:  NASA Copyright Free Policy Date Released:  12 February 2003

• The Birth and Formation of Galaxies
• The Oldest Light in the Universe
• Cosmic History
• The WMAP Spacecraft

This full-sky cosmic map captures the afterglow of the Big Bang, called the cosmic microwave background. It is a map of the oldest light in the universe: a "baby picture" of the universe. The picture was captured by scientists using NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) during a sweeping 12-month observation of the entire sky. Colors indicate "warmer" (red) and "cooler" (blue) spots. The oval shape is a projection to display the whole sky; similar to the way the globe of the earth can be represented as an oval.