Astronomers created a map of the origin of the universe

The European Space Agency (ESA) has created the most detailed map of the universe since the Big Bang. The cosmological map reveals new details about exactly when the universe began, what it's made of, and where it's going.

The 50 million pixel image gives us a glimpse of the universe immediately after the Big Bang, and was created using data recorded by ESA's Planck space telescope, writes Russia Today.

"This is a huge leap in understanding the origin of the universe. What we see is a microwave picture of the universe as it was 380 years after the Big Bang," said the agency's director general Jean-Jacques Dordain at a press conference in Paris.

Using the Planck telescope, it was determined that the universe is exactly 13,8 billion years old, 80 million years older than previous calculations. ESA also found that the universe is expanding at a slightly more leisurely pace than previously thought.

The information obtained from the satellite also revealed that the composition of the universe contains slightly more ordinary matter than previously thought, about 4,9 percent instead of the previous 4,6 percent. It was also found to contain less of the hypothetical dark energy that permeates the entire universe, 68 percent instead of the previous 71 percent. There is also a bit more non-reflective dark matter, which makes up a significant part of the universe, about 26,8 percent.

The research results only solidified the theory of inflation, according to which the universe erupted from subatomic size to its current size in a fraction of a second. Launched in May 2009, the $900 million satellite mapped the universe by studying the cosmic microwave background radiation that permeates the entire universe.

"The microwave background shows small temperature oscillations corresponding to regions of slightly different density at very early times, representing the beginning of all future structures: stars and today's galaxies," ESA said.

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