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The chronology of the universe describes the history and future of the universe according to Big Bang cosmology. Research published in 2015 estimates the earliest stages of the universe's existence as taking place 13.8 billion years ago, with an uncertainty of around 21 million years at the 68% confidence level.
Apr 30, 2018 · Explore the history and future of the Universe in this infographic by Martin Vargic. See how space, Earth, life and humanity have evolved and changed over 13.8 billion years and beyond.
New ideas and major discoveries made during the 20th century transformed cosmology – the term for the way we conceptualize and study the universe – although much remains unknown. Here is the history of the universe according to cosmologists’ current theories.
Timeline of the early universe. Diagram of Evolution of the universe from the Big Bang (left) to the present. The timeline of the early universe outlines the formation and subsequent evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang (13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago) to the present day.
- 1 min
- Scott Dutfield,Denise Chow
- How it all started. The Big Bang was not an explosion in space, as the theory's name might suggest. Instead, it was the appearance of space everywhere in the universe, researchers have said.
- The universe's first growth spurt. When the universe was very young — something like a hundredth of a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second (whew!)
- Too hot to shine. Light chemical elements were created within the first three minutes of the universe's formation. As the universe expanded, temperatures cooled and protons and neutrons collided to make deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen.
- Let there be light. About 380,000 years after the Big Bang, matter cooled enough for electrons to combine with nuclei to form neutral atoms. This phase is known as "recombination," and the absorption of free electrons caused the universe to become transparent.
Origins. In the first moments after the Big Bang, the universe was extremely hot and dense. As the universe cooled, conditions became just right to give rise to the building blocks of matter – the quarks and electrons of which we are all made. A few millionths of a second later, quarks aggregated to produce protons and neutrons.
Jan 17, 2017 · The most popular theory of our universe's origin centers on a cosmic cataclysm unmatched in all of history—the big bang. By Michael Greshko and National Geographic Staff January 18, 2017
