Instrumentalizing and Visualizing the Cosmic First Light

Abstract

Abstract What material and visual means have astrophysicists and cosmologists developed to explain the composition and history of our universe? The emergence of high-precision, big-data, born-digital cosmology in the late-20th century depended upon detecting, interrogating, and making visible the universe’s very first light—the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. This article analyses how, between 1974 and 2013, physicists and space scientists grappled with building interlinked instruments that could engage with the material effects of light to visualize, map, and interpret these invisible primordial messages. Astrophysicists, instrument-builders, and engineers used data collected from instruments on NASA’s COBE and WMAP and ESA’s Planck space probes to produce iconic images mapping the universe’s embryonic structure, theoretically-anchored precision visualizations modeling the evolution of cosmic structure from the big bang to today. This paper argues that creative aesthetic concerns appeared at all stages in these missions, from instrument design to image production to public outreach.