Exploring the Strangest and Most Mysterious Finds in the Universe

3. The Milky Way Map

Found Year: 2013. Who Found It: Gerry Gilmore, Gaia Spacecraft Where: The Milky Way Unquestionably, every finding about the Milky Way in general has contributed significantly to our understanding of the Universe in general and astronomy and cosmology in particular.

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An Entire Milky Way Map ©Images from Science History/Alamy Given that the Milky Way is around 100 billion stars strong and 13.6 billion years old, it is fascinating to note that a highly rare three-dimensional map of the Milky Way was made available in 2013 by Gerry Gilmore of Gaia.

4. Measurement of the Cosmic Temperature Independently

Found Year: 2004 Who Discovered It: Several writers The vicinity of the Cosmos The Absolute Radiometer For Cosmology, Astrophysics, And Diffuse Emission, or ARCADE, is the instrument used to measure the microwave level background of the cosmos. It compares the sky to external full-aperture calibrators using narrowband cryogenic radiometers.

Independent Measurement of the Cosmic Temperature ©NASA photos/Shutterstock With its unique open-aperture design, ARCADE is able to take measurements more precisely than its predecessors since it does not have any windows or other potentially heated objects between its antenna and the sky.