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Cosmic dust may have ruined an attempt to detect what happened in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.

The discovery was made in March when scientists believed they had glimpsed a very brief moment at the beginning of everything when the universe expanded - a theory called cosmic inflation.

But the incredible find was soon dismissed by other research groups who thought the Harvard Bicep team in may have underestimated the effects of dust in the galaxy.

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Gravitational waves from cosmic inflation generate a faint but distinctive twisting pattern in the universe. Shown here is the pattern observed with the Bicep2 telescope, providing what was thought at the time to be evidence for cosmic inflation after the Big Bang. The results have now been called into question

Now, that explanation has been given more credit following a recent study by the European Agency's Planck satellite.

Their research suggests the part of the sky observed by the Bicep team had more cosmic dust than had previously been estimated.

It builds on two other independent studies that suggest the twisting patterns thought to be something known as 'gravitational waves' from the early universe could just as easily be accounted for by the dust.

While this is another blow to the Bicep team's findings, it doesn't mean their work is completely wrong.  Bicep and Planck teams are now working together for a final assessment to be released by next year.

Scientists, from left, Clem Pryke, Jamie Bock, Chao-Lin Kuo and John Kovac smile during a news conference at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge to announced their groundbreaking results on gravitational waves in March

The incredible find was soon dismissed by other research groups who thought the Harvard Bicep team in may have underestimated the effects of dust in the galaxy. Now, that explanation has been given more credit following a recent study by the European Agency's Planck satellite (pictured)

Their research centered on a theory by that Albert Einstein when something very explosive happens it leaves ripples in space-time known as 'gravitational waves'.

The very first gravitational waves can tell us about the birth of the universe and scientists have discovered they leave imprints in cosmic microwave background radiation - the afterglow of the Big Bang - as they pass through space.

The theory suggests that this initial spurt would have taken the infant universe from something infinitely small to something close to the size of a marble.

Earlier this year experts believed they had seen these gravitational waves and hailed the experiment as a massive step forward - but admitted the theory needed more work.

'It's just unbelievable quite honestly,' Professor Peter Ade, who helped build the instrument that detected the waves, told MailOnline at the time. 'This is confirming what is, to me, a wacky idea.'

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This graphic shows the universe as it evolved from the Big Bang to now. Nasa scientists believe that the universe expanded from subatomic scales to the astronomical in just a fraction of a second after its birth

The finding by the Bicep2 telescope (pictured) in the South Pole could rank with the greatest discoveries about the universe over the last 25 years

For their research, astronomers scanned about two per cent of the sky for three years with a telescope at the South Pole, chosen for its very dry air, to aid in the observations

For their research, astronomers scanned about two per cent of the sky for three years with a telescope at the South Pole, chosen for its very dry air, to aid in the observations.

These observations have eluded scientists for decades because it's difficult to separate the characteristic swirl of light created by gravitational waves, and the dust generated today by the Milky Way.

The Bicep team hoped to overcome this by looking at cleanest part of the sky, over Antarctica, according to a BBC report by Jonathon Amos.

But they failed to use the dust data compiled by Europe's Planck satellite, which had mapped the sky at many more frequencies than other satellites.

The Planck team claims there is dust polarisation across areas of sky Bicep took a look at.

'It's possible, but the error in our measurement is quite high,' Planck scientist Dr Cécile Renault told BBC News.

'The conclusion really is that we need to analyse the data together - Bicep and Planck - to get the right cosmological [versus] galactic signal. It's really too early to say.'

The moment professor hears ripples in space time have been...

Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, or CMB for short, is a faint glow of light that fills the universe. Pictured is the microwave radiation from the whole sky, captured by the European Space Agency's Planck satellite

This image shows temperature fluctuations, indicated by variations in colour, of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Researchers say since the CMB is a form of light, it exhibits all the properties of light, including polarisation (shown by black lines). The changes in polarisation are thought to be caused by gravitational waves