A New Helium Measurement Is Testing the Universe's First Five Minutes

An international team of scientists using data from the Large Binocular Telescope measured the primordial helium content of the universe with 0.5% precision, improving the previous result threefold. Observations of 15 chemically unevolved galaxies took 130 hours, with results presented in five papers in The Astrophysical Journal.

• Uncertainty in primordial helium estimate reduced to 0.5% — three times less than before
• Observations of 15 low-mass galaxies took 130 hours on LBT
• More than 10 helium lines and 15 hydrogen lines analyzed simultaneously
• Result refines one of the three pillars of Big Bang theory