It was the experiment that marked the end of the beginning. By mapping the radiation left over from the big bang – known as the cosmic microwave background – the Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe (WMAP) brought precision to cosmology and set the stage for a deeper understanding of the universe.

Now, the team behind that experiment has won the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The $3 million prize will be shared among the 27 team members, including Perimeter Institute cosmologist Kendrick Smith.

The prize is the richest in science. In awarding this year’s prize to the WMAP team, the Breakthrough Foundation cited the project’s highly lauded results. The detailed maps of the early universe produced by the WMAP team “greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies,” the citation read.

Perimeter Institute Director Neil Turok offered his congratulations to the WMAP team, and to Smith in particular.

“The WMAP satellite, and the Planck satellite which followed it, revealed an astonishingly simple picture of the universe on large scales, providing invaluable clues to the fundamental physics of the cosmos,” he said.

“We congratulate the whole WMAP team, and our own Kendrick Smith in particular, on winning this wonderful prize. Kendrick played a key role in analyzing the data of both satellites, and continues to pioneer data analyses for CHIME, HIRAX, and other leading-edge experiments.”

This is the sixth time Perimeter researchers have been honoured at the Breakthrough Prizes. Previously, five researchers have won the $100,000 New Horizons in Physics Prize, which recognizes outstanding work by early career researchers: Asimina Arvanitaki in 2016, Philip Schuster and Natalia Toro in 2015, Freddy Cachazo in 2014, and Davide Gaiotto in 2013. Several of Perimeter’s Distinguished Visiting Research Chairs and Visiting Fellows have also been honoured.