Oldest light shows images from Big Bang

The big bang theory is famous throughout the world as the way of explaining how the universe came to life. The framework for the model relies on Albert Einstein's general relativity and on simplifying assumptions. What existed prior to this event is completely unknown and is a matter of pure speculation. This occurrence was not a conventional explosion but rather an event filling all of space with all of the particles of the embryonic universe rushing away from each other. The Big Bang actually consisted of an explosion of space within itself unlike an explosion of a bomb were fragments are thrown outward.

The galaxies were not all clumped together, but rather the Big Bang laid the foundations for the universe. After its initial appearance, it apparently inflated, expanded and cooled, going from very, very small and very, very hot, to the size and temperature of our current universe. It continues to expand and cool to this day.

The origin of the Big Bang theory can be credited to Edwin Hubble. Hubble made the observation that the universe is continuously expanding.

The theory is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate explanations from current scientific evidence and observation. According to the best available measurements as of 2010, the initial conditions occurred around 13.3 to 13.9 billion years ago.

This incredible image shows the remains of the fireball out of which our Universe sprang into existence 13.7 billion years ago and, this is the oldest light in the Universe.

It provides scientists with new insight into the way stars and galaxies form. It 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 opportunities 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. 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.

The most interesting is the mottled backdrop at the top and bottom. This is the 'cosmic microwave background radiation'.

The microwave pattern is the cosmic blueprint from which today's clusters and super clusters of galaxies were built.

The different colours represent minute differences in the temperature and density of matter across the sky. Somehow these small irregularities evolved into denser regions that became the galaxies of today.

The Cosmic microwave background radiation covers the entire sky. When this work is completed, Planck will show us the most precise picture of the microwave background ever obtained. This era is believed to have taken place just after the Big Bang and resulted in the Universe expanding enormously in size over an extremely short period. Planck continues to map the Universe. By the end of its mission in 2012, it will have completed four all-sky scans.

- Chamari Senanayake