Timeline of the early universe
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The timeline of the universe begins with the Big Bang, 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago, [1] and follows the the formation and subsequent evolution of the Universe up to the present day. Each era or age of the universe begins with an "epoch," a time of significant change. Times on this list are relative to the moment of the Big Bang.
The first 20 minutes
[edit]−13 — – −12 — – −11 — – −10 — – −9 — – −8 — – −7 — – −6 — – −5 — – −4 — – −3 — – −2 — – −1 — – 0 — |
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Planck epoch
[edit]- c. 0 seconds (13.799 ± 0.021 Gya): Planck epoch begins: earliest meaningful time. Conjecture dominates discussion about the earliest moments of the universe's history. The Big Bang occurs in which ordinary space and time develop out of a primeval state (possibly a virtual particle or false vacuum) described by a quantum theory of gravity or "Theory of everything". All matter and energy of the entire visible universe is contained in a hot, dense point (gravitational singularity), a billionth the size of a nuclear particle. This state has been described as a particle desert.[according to whom?] Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) or dark matter and dark energy may have appeared and been the catalyst for the expansion of the singularity. The infant universe cools as it begins expanding. It is almost completely smooth, with quantum variations beginning to cause slight variations in density.[citation needed]
Grand unification epoch
[edit]- c. 10−43 seconds: Grand unification epoch begins: While still at an infinitesimal size, the universe cools down to 1032 kelvin. Gravity separates and begins operating on the universe—the remaining fundamental forces stabilize into the electronuclear force, also known as the Grand Unified Force or Grand Unified Theory (GUT), mediated by (the hypothetical) X and Y bosons which allow early matter at this stage to fluctuate between baryon and lepton states.[2]
Electroweak epoch
[edit]- c. 10−36 seconds: Electroweak epoch begins: The Universe cools down to 1028 kelvin. As a result, the strong nuclear force becomes distinct from the electroweak force. A wide array of exotic elementary particles result from the decay of X and Y bosons, which include W and Z bosons and Higgs bosons.[citation needed]
- c. 10−33 seconds: Space is subjected to inflation, expanding by a factor of the order of 1026 over a time of the order of 10−33 to 10−32 seconds. The universe is supercooled from about 1027 down to 1022 kelvin.[3]
- c. 10−32 seconds: Cosmic inflation ends. The familiar elementary particles now form as a soup of hot ionized gas called quark–gluon plasma; hypothetical components of cold dark matter (such as axions) would also have formed at this time.
Quark epoch
[edit]- c. 10−12 seconds: Electroweak phase transition: the four fundamental interactions familiar from the modern universe now operate as distinct forces. The weak nuclear force is now a short-range force as it separates from electromagnetic force, so matter particles can acquire mass and interact with the Higgs Field. The temperature is still too high for quarks to coalesce into hadrons, and the quark–gluon plasma persists (Quark epoch). The universe cools to 1015 kelvin.[citation needed]
- c. 10−11 seconds: Baryogenesis may have taken place with matter gaining the upper hand over anti-matter as baryon to antibaryon constituencies are established.[citation needed]
Hadron epoch
[edit]- c. 10−6 seconds: Hadron epoch begins: As the universe cools to about 1010 kelvin, a quark-hadron transition takes place in which quarks bind to form more complex particles—hadrons. This quark confinement includes the formation of protons and neutrons (nucleons), the building blocks of atomic nuclei.[citation needed]
Lepton epoch
[edit]- c. 1 second: Lepton epoch begins: The universe cools to 109 kelvin. At this temperature, the hadrons and antihadrons annihilate each other, leaving behind leptons and antileptons – possible disappearance of antiquarks. Gravity governs the expansion of the universe: neutrinos decouple from matter creating a cosmic neutrino background.[citation needed]
Photon epoch
[edit]- c. 10 seconds: Photon epoch begins: Most leptons and antileptons annihilate each other. As electrons and positrons annihilate, a small number of unmatched electrons are left over – disappearance of the positrons.[citation needed]
- c. 10 seconds: Universe dominated by photons of radiation – ordinary matter particles are coupled to light and radiation. In contrast, dark matter particles build non-linear structures as dark matter halos.[dubious – discuss] The universe becomes a super-hot glowing fog because charged electrons and protons hinder light emission.
- c. 3 minutes: Primordial nucleosynthesis: nuclear fusion begins as lithium and heavy hydrogen (deuterium) and helium nuclei form from protons and neutrons.
- c. 20 minutes: Primordial nucleosynthesis ceases: normal matter consists of a mass of 75% hydrogen nuclei and 25% helium nuclei or one helium nucleus per twelve hydrogen nuclei– free electrons begin scattering light.[citation needed]
Matter era
[edit]Matter and radiation equivalence
[edit]- c. 47,000 years (z=3600): Matter and radiation equivalence: at the beginning of this era, the expansion of the universe was decelerating at a faster rate.
- c. 70,000 years: As the temperature falls, gravity overcomes pressure allowing the first aggregates of matter to form.
Cosmic Dark Age
[edit]
- c. 370,000 years (z=1,100): The "Dark Ages" is the period between decoupling, when the universe first becomes transparent, until the formation of the first stars. Recombination: electrons combine with nuclei to form atoms, mostly hydrogen and helium. At this time, hydrogen and helium transport remains constant as the electron-baryon plasma thins. The temperature falls to 3,000 K (2,730 °C; 4,940 °F). Ordinary matter particles decouple from radiation. The photons present during the decoupling are the same photons seen in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation.
- c. 400,000 years: Density waves begin imprinting characteristic polarization signals.
- c. 10-17 million years: The "Dark Ages" span a period during which the temperature of cosmic microwave background radiation cooled from some 4,000 K (3,730 °C; 6,740 °F) down to about 60 K (−213.2 °C; −351.7 °F). The background temperature was between 373 and 273 K (100 and 0 °C; 212 and 32 °F), allowing the possibility of liquid water, during a period of about 7 million years, from about 10 to 17 million after the Big Bang (redshift 137–100). Avi Loeb (2014) speculated that primitive life might in principle have appeared during this window, which he called "the Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe".[4][5][6]
Reionization
[edit]- c. 100 million years: Gravitational collapse: ordinary matter particles fall into the structures created by dark matter. Reionization begins: smaller (stars) and larger non-linear structures (quasars) begin to take shape – their ultraviolet light ionizes remaining neutral gas.
- 200–300 million years: First stars begin to shine: Because many are Population III stars (some Population II stars are accounted for at this time) they are much bigger and hotter and their life cycle is fairly short. Unlike later generations of stars, these stars are metal free. Reionization begins, with the absorption of certain wavelengths of light by neutral hydrogen creating Gunn–Peterson troughs. The resulting ionized gas (especially free electrons) in the intergalactic medium causes some scattering of light, but with much lower opacity than before recombination due the expansion of the universe and clumping of gas into galaxies.
- 200 million years: The oldest-known star (confirmed) – SMSS J031300.36−670839.3, forms.
- 300 million years: First large-scale astronomical objects, protogalaxies and quasars may have begun forming. As Population III stars continue to burn, stellar nucleosynthesis operates – stars burn mainly by fusing hydrogen to produce more helium in what is referred to as the main sequence. Over time these stars are forced to fuse helium to produce carbon, oxygen, silicon and other heavy elements up to iron on the periodic table. These elements, when seeded into neighbouring gas clouds by supernova, will lead to the formation of more Population II stars (metal poor) and gas giants.
- 320 million years (z=13.3): HD1, the oldest-known spectroscopically-confirmed galaxy, forms.[7]
- 380 million years: UDFj-39546284 forms, current record holder for unconfirmed oldest-known quasar.[8]
- 420 million years: The quasar MACS0647-JD, the, or one of the, furthest known quasars, forms.
- 600 million years: HE 1523-0901, the oldest star found producing neutron capture elements forms, marking a new point in ability to detect stars with a telescope.[9]
- 630 million years (z=8.2): GRB 090423, the oldest gamma-ray burst recorded suggests that supernovas may have happened very early on in the evolution of the Universe[10]
Galaxy epoch
[edit]- 1 billion years (12.8 Gya, z=6.56): Galaxy HCM-6A, the most distant normal galaxy observed, forms. Formation of hyper-luminous quasar SDSS J0100+2802, which harbors a black hole with mass of 12 billion solar masses, one of the most massive black holes discovered so early in the universe. HE 1327-2326, a population II star, is speculated to have formed from remnants of earlier Population III stars. Visual limit of the Hubble Deep Field. Reionization is complete, with intergalactic space no longer showing any absorption lines from neutral hydrogen in the form of Gunn–Peterson troughs. Photon scattering by free electrons continues to decrease as the universe expands and gas falls into galaxies, and intergalactic space is now highly transparent, though remaining clouds of neutral hydrogen cause Lyman-alpha forests. Galaxy evolution continues as more modern looking galaxies form and develop, although barred spiral and elliptical galaxies are more rare than today. Because the Universe is still small in size, galaxy interactions become common place with larger and larger galaxies forming out of the galaxy merger process. Galaxies may have begun clustering creating the largest structures in the Universe so far – the first galaxy clusters and galaxy superclusters appear.
Acceleration
[edit]- 8.8 billion years (5 Gya, z=0.5): Acceleration: dark-energy dominated era begins, following the matter-dominated era during which cosmic expansion was slowing down.[11]
Epochs of the formation of the Solar System
[edit]- 9.2 billion years (4.6–4.57 Gya): Primal supernova, possibly triggers the formation of The Solar System.
- 9.2318 billion years (4.5682 Gya): Sun forms – Planetary nebula begins accretion of planets.
- 9.23283 billion years (4.56717–4.55717 Gya): Four Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) evolve around the Sun.
- 9.257 billion years (4.543–4.5 Gya): Solar System of Eight planets, four terrestrial (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) evolve around the Sun. Because of accretion many smaller planets form orbits around the proto-Sun some with conflicting orbits – Early Heavy Bombardment begins. Precambrian Supereon and Hadean eon begin on Earth. Pre-Noachian Era begins on Mars. Pre-Tolstojan Period begins on Mercury – a large planetoid strikes Mercury stripping it of outer envelope of original crust and mantle, leaving the planet's core exposed – Mercury's iron content is notably high. Many of the Galilean moons may have formed at this time including Europa and Titan which may presently be hospitable to some form of living organism.
- 9.266 billion years (4.533 Gya): Formation of Earth-Moon system following giant impact by hypothetical planetoid Theia (planet). Moon's gravitational pull helps stabilize Earth's fluctuating axis of rotation. Pre-Nectarian Period begins on Moon
- 9.271 billion years (4.529 Gya): Major collision with a pluto-sized planetoid establishes the Martian dichotomy on Mars – formation of North Polar Basin of Mars
- 9.3 billion years (4.5 Gya): Sun becomes a main sequence yellow star: formation of the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt from which a stream of comets like Halley's Comet and Hale-Bopp begins passing through the Solar System, sometimes colliding with planets and the Sun
- 9.396 billion years (4.404 Gya): Liquid water may have existed on the surface of the Earth, probably due to the greenhouse warming of high levels of methane and carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere.
- 9.4 billion years (4.4 Gya): Formation of Kepler-438b, one of the most Earth-like planets, from a protoplanetary nebula surrounding its parent star
- 9.5 billion years (4.3 Gya): Massive meteorite impact creates South Pole–Aitken basin on the Moon – a huge chain of mountains located on the lunar southern limb, sometimes called "Leibnitz mountains", form
- 9.6 billion years (4.2 Gya): Tharsis Bulge widespread area of vulcanism, becomes active on Mars – based on the intensity of volcanic activity on Earth, Tharsis magmas may have produced a 1.5-bar CO2 atmosphere and a global layer of water 120 m deep increasing greenhouse gas effect in climate and adding to Martian water table. Age of the oldest samples from the Lunar Maria
- 9.7 billion years (4.1 Gya): Resonance in Jupiter and Saturn's orbits moves Neptune out into the Kuiper belt causing a disruption among asteroids and comets there. As a result, Late Heavy Bombardment batters the inner Solar System. Herschel Crater formed on Mimas, a moon of Saturn. Meteorite impact creates the Hellas Planitia on Mars, the largest unambiguous structure on the planet. Anseris Mons an isolated massif (mountain) in the southern highlands of Mars, located at the northeastern edge of Hellas Planitia is uplifted in the wake of the meteorite impact
- 9.8 billion years (4 Gya): HD 209458 b, first planet detected through its transit, forms. Messier 85, lenticular galaxy, disrupted by galaxy interaction: complex outer structure of shells and ripples results. Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies experience close encounter – high levels of star formation in Andromeda while Triangulum's outer disc is distorted
- 9.861 billion years (3.938 Gya): Major period of impacts on the Moon: Mare Imbrium forms
- 9.88 billion years (3.92 Gya): Nectaris Basin forms from large impact event: ejecta from Nectaris forms upper part of densely cratered Lunar Highlands – Nectarian Era begins on the Moon.
- 9.9 billion years (3.9 Gya): Tolstoj (crater) forms on Mercury. Caloris Basin forms on Mercury leading to creation of "Weird Terraine" – seismic activity triggers volcanic activity globally on Mercury. Rembrandt (crater) formed on Mercury. Caloris Period begins on Mercury. Argyre Planitia forms from asteroid impact on Mars: surrounded by rugged massifs which form concentric and radial patterns around basin – several mountain ranges including Charitum and Nereidum Montes are uplifted in its wake
- 9.95 billion years (3.85 Gya): Beginning of Late Imbrium Period on Moon. Earliest appearance of Procellarum KREEP Mg suite materials
- 9.96 billion years (3.84 Gya): Formation of Orientale Basin from asteroid impact on Lunar surface – collision causes ripples in crust, resulting in three concentric circular features known as Montes Rook and Montes Cordillera
- 10 billion years (3.8 Gya): In the wake of Late Heavy Bombardment impacts on the Moon, large molten mare depressions dominate lunar surface – major period of Lunar vulcanism begins (to 3 Gyr). Archean eon begins on the Earth.
- 10.2 billion years (3.6 Gya): Alba Mons forms on Mars, largest volcano in terms of area
- 10.4 billion years (3.5 Gya): Earliest fossil traces of life on Earth (stromatolites)
- 10.6 billion years (3.2 Gya): Amazonian Period begins on Mars: Martian climate thins to its present density: groundwater stored in upper crust (megaregolith) begins to freeze, forming thick cryosphere overlying deeper zone of liquid water – dry ices composed of frozen carbon dioxide form Eratosthenian period begins on the Moon: main geologic force on the Moon becomes impact cratering
- 10.8 billion years (3 Gya): Beethoven Basin forms on Mercury – unlike many basins of similar size on the Moon, Beethoven is not multi ringed and ejecta buries crater rim and is barely visible
- 11.2 billion years (2.5 Gya): Proterozoic begins
- 11.6 billion years (2.2 Gya): Last great tectonic period in Martian geologic history: Valles Marineris, largest canyon complex in the Solar System, forms – although some suggestions of thermokarst activity or even water erosion, it is suggested Valles Marineris is rift fault
Recent history
[edit]- 11.8 billion years (2 Gya): Star formation in Andromeda Galaxy slows. Formation of Hoag's Object from a galaxy collision. Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System, is formed
- 12.1 billion years (1.7 Gya): Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy captured into an orbit around Milky Way Galaxy
- 12.7 billion years (1.1 Gya): Copernican Period begins on Moon: defined by impact craters that possess bright optically immature ray systems
- 12.8 billion years (1 Gya): The Kuiperian Era (1 Gyr – present) begins on Mercury: modern Mercury, a desolate cold planet that is influenced by space erosion and solar wind extremes. Interactions between Andromeda and its companion galaxies Messier 32 and Messier 110. Galaxy collision with Messier 82 forms its patterned spiral disc: galaxy interactions between NGC 3077 and Messier 81; Saturn's moon Titan begins evolving the recognisable surface features that include rivers, lakes, and deltas
- 13 billion years (800 Mya): Copernicus (lunar crater) forms from the impact on the Lunar surface in the area of Oceanus Procellarum – has terrace inner wall and 30 km wide, sloping rampart that descends nearly a kilometre to the surrounding mare
- 13.175 billion years (625 Mya): formation of Hyades star cluster: consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing the same age, place of origin, chemical content and motion through space
- 13.15-21 billion years (590–650 Mya): Capella star system forms
- 13.2 billion years (600 Mya): Collision of spiral galaxies leads to the creation of Antennae Galaxies. Whirlpool Galaxy collides with NGC 5195 forming a present connected galaxy system. HD 189733 b forms around parent star HD 189733: the first planet to reveal the climate, organic constituencies, even colour (blue) of its atmosphere
- 13.345 billion years (455 Mya): Vega, the fifth-brightest star in Earth's galactic neighbourhood, forms.
- 13.6–13.5 billion years (300-200 Mya): Sirius, the brightest star in the Earth's sky, forms.
- 13.7 billion years (100 Mya): Formation of Pleiades Star Cluster
- 13.73 billion years (70 Mya): North Star, Polaris, one of the significant navigable stars, forms
- 13.780 billion years (20 Mya): Possible formation of Orion Nebula
- 13.788 billion years (12 Mya): Antares forms.
- 13.792 billion years (7.6 Mya): Betelgeuse forms.
- 13.8 billion years (Without uncertainties): Present day.[12]
See also
[edit]- Chronology of the universe
- Formation and evolution of the Solar System
- Timeline of natural history (formation of the Earth to evolution of modern humans)
- Detailed logarithmic timeline
- Timeline of the far future
- Timelines of world history
References
[edit]- ^ "Planck reveals an almost perfect universe". Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ Cheng, Ta-Pei; Li, Ling-Fong (1983). Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics. Oxford University Press. p. 437. ISBN 0-19-851961-3.
- ^ Guth, "Phase transitions in the very early universe", in: Hawking, Gibbon, Siklos (eds.), The Very Early Universe (1985).
- ^ Loeb, Abraham (October 2014). "The Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe" (PDF). International Journal of Astrobiology. 13 (4): 337–339. arXiv:1312.0613. Bibcode:2014IJAsB..13..337L. doi:10.1017/S1473550414000196. S2CID 2777386. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ Loeb, Abraham (2 December 2013). "The Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe". International Journal of Astrobiology. 13 (4): 337–339. arXiv:1312.0613. Bibcode:2014IJAsB..13..337L. doi:10.1017/S1473550414000196. S2CID 2777386.
- ^ Dreifus, Claudia (2 December 2014). "Much-Discussed Views That Go Way Back – Avi Loeb Ponders the Early Universe, Nature and Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ Simion @Yonescat, Florin (6 April 2022). "Scientists have spotted the farthest galaxy ever". The Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ Wall, Mike (12 December 2012). "Ancient Galaxy May Be Most Distant Ever Seen". Space.com. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
- ^ Collaborative (11 April 2007). "Discovery of HE 1523–0901". Astrophysical Journal Letters. 660. CaltechAUTHORS: L117 – L120. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ "GRB 090423 goes Supernova in a galaxy, far, far away". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ Frieman, Joshua A.; Turner, Michael S.; Huterer, Dragan (2008). "Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 46 (1): 385–432. arXiv:0803.0982. Bibcode:2008ARA&A..46..385F. doi:10.1146/annurev.astro.46.060407.145243. S2CID 15117520.
- ^ Nola Taylor Redd (8 June 2017). "How Old is the Universe?". Space. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
