Deflecting light from the Big Bang

Copyright ESA and the Planck Collaboration

artist’s impression of photons in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
deflected by the gravitational lensing effect of massive cosmic structures
as they travel across the Universe.

Gravitational lensing creates tiny, additional distortions to the mottled pattern of the CMB temperature fluctuations. Planck cosmologists have extracted a map of this gravitational lensing effect covering the whole sky for the first time, providing a new way to probe the evolution of structure in the Universe over time.

ESA ::  SPACE IN IMAGES

Galaxy formation: The new view of the Milky Way (2012)

LYNETTE COOK

LYNETTE COOK

Galaxy formation: The new Milky Way 

A fresh look at our Galaxy points to a chaotic past and a violent end.

Ann Finkbeiner 03 October 2012

{article on nature.com}