Looking Back in Time
The farther away we look, the older the light we see. It's like looking back in time.
Some of the galaxies we see sent out their light billions of years ago, before Earth even existed.Scroll to explore the cosmos
Cosmic Fingerprints
In the baby universe, pressure waves rippled outward—like sound through a drum. These waves left behind patterns, like fingerprints in space.
Billions of years later, those patterns are still visible in how galaxies are spaced out. Scientists measure them to track the universe's growth.A Ruler Across Time
By comparing how big the fingerprint looks at different distances, we can measure how fast the universe is expanding.
It's like holding an object in front of a camera at different distances—the size it appears tells you how far it is.Moon · 1.3 seconds
Light takes just over one second to reach us.
Sun · 8 minutes
Sunshine is always 8 minutes old.
Alpha Centauri · 4.3 years
Our nearest stellar neighbour's light started its trip four years ago.
Andromeda · 2.5 million years
This light left before early humans walked upright.
CMB · 13.8 billion years
The oldest light we can see—the Big Bang's afterglow.