Cosmic infrared background. This background infrared image was obtained by removing stars and galaxies from R980/228, an infrared image of a starfield in the constellation of Ursa Major. The radiation dates from a moment called insFirst Lightins, billions of years ago, around 400 million years after the Big Bang. At this point, the early universe had cooled enough to became transparent to radiation. The continued expansion of the universe stretched (red-shifted) this original light, so now it appears as infrared radiation. Yellow and white show the brightest points. Image obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), and published in 2006.