What did WMAP reveal about the age of the universe?

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Oval map of the cosmic microwave background radiation from NASA's WMAP mission, showing a mottled pattern of blue, green, yellow, and red representing temperature variations. — Cosmic microwave background A full-sky map produced by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) showing cosmic background radiation, a very uniform glow of microwaves emitted by the infant universe more than 13 billion years ago. Color differences indicate tiny fluctuations in the intensity of the radiation, a result of tiny variations in the density of matter in the early universe. According to inflation theory, these irregularities were the “seeds” that became the galaxies. WMAP's data support the big bang and inflation models, and cosmic microwave background is at the farthest limits of the observable universe.

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) provided precise measurements that allowed scientists to determine the age of the universe to be 13.8 billion years.1

By mapping irregularities in the cosmic microwave background—the residual thermal radiation from the big bang—WMAP was able to analyze the composition and expansion history of the universe with unprecedented detail. These findings significantly refined our understanding of the timeline of the cosmos, including the formation of the first stars, which WMAP revealed occurred half a billion years after the big bang.123