How Large is the Universe? & The Birth of New Galaxy – Space Discovery Documentary

As technology has evolved, astronomers are able to look back in time to the moments just after the Big Bang. This might seem to imply that the entire universe lies within our view. But the size of the universe depends on a number of things, including its shape and expansion. Just how big is the universe? The truth is, scientists can’t put a number on it.

In 2013, the European Space Agency’s Planck space mission released the most accurate and detailed map ever map of the universe’s oldest light. The map revealed that the universe is 13.8 billion years old. Planck calculated the age by studying the cosmic microwave background.

“The cosmic microwave background light is a traveler from far away and long ago,” Charles Lawrence, the U.S. project scientist for the mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. “When it arrives, it tells us about the whole history of our universe.”