When the universe began, matter was flung outward and gradually formed the planets, stars, and galaxies that we know and love today.

The high altitude and extremely dry conditions of the South Pole keep water vapor from absorbing select light wavelengths.

That is, if you make a model incorporating all the currently accepted physical laws, then take the readings from the beginning of the universe and extrapolate it forward through time, the results look slightly different from what we actually measure around us today.

The full studies and authorships, “Joint analysis of Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data and CMB lensing from SPT and Planck,” can be found in three papers selected as the editor’s suggestion at Physical Review D.

Construction of CMB lensing maps and modeling choices” by Y. Omori et al. (DES and SPT Collaborations), 31 January 2023, Physical Review D. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.107.023529

The South Pole Telescope is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy and is operated by a collaboration led by the University of Chicago.