by Rachel Kaufman
Published in National Geographic News
2010-02-09

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If you want to celebrate the universe’s birthday, you might need to add a few more candles to the cake.

That’s because our universe is about 20 million years older than thought, according to the most accurate measurement yet made of the universe’s age.

The data are the latest from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), a satellite launched in 2001 that has been mapping what’s known as the cosmic microwave background radiation. This “afterglow of creation” is believed to be radiation emitted as matter began to cool 400,000 years after the big bang created the universe.

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