New cosmic 'baby pictures' reveal our universe taking its 1st steps towards stars and galaxies

On the left is part of the new half-sky image from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, adding to measurements from the Planck satellite. Three wavelengths of light have been combined together to highlight the Milky Way in purple, and the cosmic microwave background in grey. The sky is rotated to highlight the part of the Milky Way that is home to the Orion Nebula, shown in the 5-degree-high zoom-in on the righ.

New images of the infant universe captured by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) are the most precise "baby pictures" to date of the cosmos' "first steps" toward forming the first stars and galaxies.