Universe Timeline
In order to describe the creation of the universe we need the help of exponential scale
to zoom in on the brief, action-packed beginning,
and zoom out for the long, slow periods of change that follow.
Time is expressed in seconds:
100 = one second
10-1 = one-tenth of a second
10-2 = one-hundreth of a second
10-3 = one-thousandth of a second
10-6 = one millionth of a second
101 = ten seconds
102 = a hundred seconds
103 = a thousand seconds
106 = a million seconds
T = 0
This represents the beginning of space and time as we know it.
When the universe came into existence, it was an infinitely hot fireball of radiation. Ever since then it’s been expanding and cooling
10-36
After the initial explosion, the universe went on to expand and cool very rapidly for a short period.
All the mass in the universe is believed to have been created by this time.
10-32
As the initial expansion slowed, the temperature and energy level surged and caused a frenzied period of massive particle creation.
10-8
Particles were formed in pairs of matter or anti-matter, and if they encountered each other, they were mutually annihilated in explosions of radiation which helped form new particles of matter and anti-matter.
We don’t know why, but a small amount of matter survived.
100
104
As the universe continued to cool, it allowed larger and more stable particles to form. After the first three minutes, protons joined with neutrons to form the nuclei of the first atoms. Most took the form of Hydrogen, but there were also some Helium and Lithium nuclei formed this way.
After 20 minutes, the density of the universe has dropped below
that of water.
108
After 300,000 years, the opaque fire ball that was the early universe has cooled and spread thinly enough as to become transparent.
1012
1017.5
After 100-200 million years the first stars formed, followed by the first supernovae, galaxies and galaxy clusters.
The universe is currently
about 13 billion years old,
with our Sun being about
4.6 billion years old.
The oldest fossilized remains of life on earth are 3.5 billion years old.
Plants and animals differentiated between 1 and 1.5 billion years ago.
Mammals, as a group, are about 200 million year ago.
Humankind is about 250,000 years old.
Jamie is 27 years old.
In the beginning, before Time had begun,
NOTHING existed, and nothing was fun...
...We think it all started from the same tiny spot:
the smallest, most teeny, most itty-bitty DOT
- denser than dense and hotter than hot...
...Then lickety-split, things got going fast.
That dense little dot did not get to last.
A Bang, and a Boom, and a really massive blast!
in every direction existence was cast...
In the blink of an eye, from tiny and formless,
to highly complex and hugely enormous.
The creation of matter was a quite frightful storm,
as energy changed into physical form.
Each particle was born as part of a pair,
so the creation of matter was balanced and fair.
If a particle met with its opposite double,
back into energy, they’d pop like a bubble.
I know it would seem this could leave us in trouble,
but somehow, some matter emerged from the rubble.
This particle war with the changes it beckoned,
all of it happened in less than a second!
By the end of that second creation was able,
to build up real matter: solid and stable...
...Hydrogen has one, and Helium two,
Lithium three, and for the moment, we’re through.
Because only these three were so easy to glue,
they formed on their own in the early space stew
So types of atoms is a pretty good start,
but what a big shame they were so far apart.
See, the universe started out crowded and tight,
brimming with energy and bursting with light,
But with time, it expanded and thinly it spread,
so much space between atoms was empty and dead...
...Millions of stars gathered into formations
of great spiral disks, with mighty rotations.
Galaxy is the name for these giant star groups.
Gravity holds them in spinning star loops.
1 second
3 hours
3 years
30,000 years
13,000,000,000 years