The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was a NASA Explorer mission that made fundamental measurements of cosmology—the study of the properties of our universe as a whole.

The structure of the universe evolved from the Big Bang, as represented by WMAP’s “baby picture” of the Cosmic Microwave Background (the afterglow of the Big Bang), through the clumping and ignition of matter, and continuing up to the present. This video condenses that almost 14 billion year history into 45 seconds.

Video Credit: NASA