PIA09100: The Universe's First Fireworks
 Mission:  Spitzer Space Telescope
 Instrument:  IRAC
 Product Size:  2430 x 1525 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  California Institute of Technology 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA09100.tif (11.13 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA09100.jpg (405.3 kB)


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click here for poster version for PIA09100 The Universe's First Fireworksfigure 1 for PIA09100 xxfigure2 for PIA09100 xx
Poster VersionFigure 1Figure 2

This is an image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of stars and galaxies in the Ursa Major constellation. This infrared image covers a region of space so large that light would take up to 100 million years to travel across it. Figure 1 is the same image after stars, galaxies and other sources were masked out. The remaining background light is from a period of time when the universe was less than one billion years old, and most likely originated from the universe's very first groups of objects -- either huge stars or voracious black holes. Darker shades in the image on the left correspond to dimmer parts of the background glow, while yellow and white show the brightest light.

Brief History of the Universe
In figure 2, the artist's timeline chronicles the history of the universe, from its explosive beginning to its mature, present-day state.





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