Astronomers peering into the depths of the cosmos and studying radiation emitted from the Big Bang at the dawn of existence have discovered that the universe is football-shaped. (Hat tip: Simon World.)

They say it is a finite “dodecahedron” made of curved pentagons joined together.

However if you went out to the edge of the “ball” you would find yourself coming back in through the opposite face.

The research, reported in the journal Nature, is based on data from a space craft mapping the background radiation left over from the Big Bang.

Nasa’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe showed that temperature fluctuations across the sky are smaller than would be produced by an infinite universe.

New York mathematician Dr Jeffrey Weeks and colleagues worked out that a football-shaped finite universe best fitted the observations.

Bwahahaha!