Timeline of the Universe

Template:Mergefrom

The Hubble Ultra Deep Fields often showcase galaxies from an ancient era that tell us what the early Stelliferous Age was like.

Another Hubble image shows an infant galaxy forming nearby, which means this happened very recently on the cosmological timescale. This is evidence that the Universe is not quite finished with galaxy formation yet

This particular Timeline of the Universe describes the events that have occurred and will occur according to prevailing scientific theory (specifically, the Big Bang theory). Most of these events are inferred from telescopic observations, particle accelerator experiments, and mathematical algorithms. These methods can reach deep into the past to tell us what occurred back then, but human beings are on their own when it comes to forecasting the future. For example, it really is impossible to say what exactly happens 100,000,000,000,000 years from now. We can only infer what the Universe will be like at that time frame in general. So as observations and theory become more fine-tuned, so will the timeline itself. As a result, this timeline is a work in progress.

Theological models on Creation of the Universe are described by regious works. These models do not subscribe to the scientific method and define themselves on sacred texts instead. This timeline does not dispute other models of Creation, but represents what prevailing scientific theory has determined.

The amount of time it takes for each successive Age and Era to pass increases exponentially as the Universe gets older, so each age is much longer in duration than its predecessor by many orders of magnitude. While the Primordial Age was over and done with in 300,000 years, the present age of the Universe is older by a factor of roughly 46,000 times that length of time. The presently estimated age of the Universe is 13,700,000,000 years. The last surviving stars are expected to burn out in 10¹⁴ years, which is 7,000 times older than the Universe is now.

This model of the creation and ultimate fate of the Universe from a modern scientific standpoint is intended to serve as an educational guide. References are provided within.

The Big Bang and matter formation

Main article: Timeline of the Big Bang

The Primordial Age - from 0 years to 379,000 years

The Planck Epoch: 10^-43 seconds

The Universe, which includes time, space, and everything in it, begins with the Big Bang 13.7 ± 0.2 billion years ago. Data that pinpointed the Universe's estimated age and when the Big Bang occurred came from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Extensive supporting data comes from the Hubble Space Telescope, among others. The earliest point of time scientists can theoretically pinpoint is the Planck Epoch, or 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang, so therefore this period is actually regarded as the Big Bang Era. This moment, though definable, is poorly understood because of what happens to gravity at such high energies and small scales is very complicated to explore. The Grand Unified Theory is a project to define a theoretical construct for quantum gravity and string theory.

The Inflationary Epoch: 10^-37 seconds

The Universe undergoes hyper-inflation, where expansion is greatly speeded up.

The Grand Unification Epoch: 10^-35 seconds

The four forces of the Universe differentiate themselves; gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force. The Universe starts off with the Grand Unified Force, which then differentiates into gravity and the electronuclear force. The electronuclear force, in turn, differentiates into the strong force and electroweak force.

WMAP data shows the microwave background radiation variations throughout the Universe from our perspective, though the actual variations are much smoother than the diagram suggests

The Electroweak Epoch: 10^-12 seconds

Finally, the electroweak force differentiates into the weak force and the electromagnetic force.

Note:Currently, particle accelerators can reproduce the conditions that cause these two forces to act the same thereby reproducing the general conditions of the Universe during this epoch, but no farther. No one has experimentally recreated the high-energy states necessary for the electroweak and the strong forces to merge into the electronuclear force.

The Hadron Epoch: 10^-6 seconds

The Lepton Epoch: 1 second

Hydrogen nuclei begin to form, and the process of nuclear fusion begins as more elements such as helium form

The Epoch of Nucleosynthesis: 3 minutes

The universe is too cool for nuclear activity to occur, and at this point the universe consists of about 75% hydrogen, 25% helium and trace amounts of deuterium, lithium, beryllium, and boron. Elements heavier than this do not have time to form before nuclear reactions stop.

The Deionization Epoch: 379,000 years

Light energy from the initial expansion of the Universe stretches out and weakens to the point where matter finally dominates in influence (this is the generally agreed-to end of the Big Bang era). Telescopes are not able to see further back in time than this time because before this time, the Universe was too hot for atoms to be stable. The matter existed as ions because the electrons had too much energy to stay in atoms. The ions caused the Universe to be opaque to light because free electrons can absorb any wavelength of light. Once the universe cooled enough for the combination rate of atoms to be greater than the rate of ionization, the electrons and light nuclei formed atoms. The electrons in atoms can only absorb specific wavelengths of photons. Photons of other wavelengths pass by without being absorbed. This made the universe transparent to most wavelengths.

Since they cannot get images from before deionization, scientists must use particle accelerators and theoretical physics to infer what occurred indirectly. The most direct evidence scientists can measure from the Big Bang is the cosmic microwave background radiation that is uniformly pervasive throughout the Universe. It is thought this background radiation is actually a snapshot of the early Universe and provides the best evidence of the creation of matter during the early epochs.

Galaxy and star formation

The Stelliferous Age - from 10⁶ to 10¹⁴ years

The Matter Domination Epoch: 379,000 years

Hydrogen nuclei (protons) capture electrons, forming the first atoms. By now the Universe has created all the matter it will create and the resulting primordial hydrogen and helium are already clumping into primordial galaxies and quasars. Big Bang Era ends as we move into the Stelliferous Era, which continues to this very day.

Galaxies are also being destroyed or merged together as well in galaxy clusters

The Galaxy/Star formation and reionization Epoch: Between 100,000,000 and 1,000,000,000 years

The formation of first mature galaxies and quasars begins to occur. Reionization of hydrogen nuclei occurs. This marks as the farthest back in time optical telescopes can see. Heavier elements begin to form as early massive stars supernova. The oldest stars in our Milky Way galaxy date from this era.

Formation of the Solar System: 9,100,000,000 years

The solar nebula from which the solar system evolved was probably initiated by a supernova. The Earth formed shortly thereafter.

Present Time: 13,700,000,000 years

The Stelliferous Era of the Universe continues to this day as galaxies and stars continue to form and die, although the most active period of the Universe has already occurred far in the past.

End of the Stelliferous Age: 100,000,000,000,000 years

Star and galaxy formation eventually ceases, leaving just the oldest stars that eventually burn out. The synthesis of heavy elements stops because fusion eventually ceases, and matter now undergoes slow and inevitable destruction as proton decay starts to set in. All matter is now contained in distributed gas clouds or compact bodies (a class of objects in the Universe that isn't luminous, like planets, black holes, etc.). See also Galaxy formation and evolution for more information on this era.

Near-term future of the Universe - different scenarios

The Big Rip

This scenario is possible only if dark energy increases over time as the Universe expands. It's highly speculative since dark energy is poorly understood and it's questionable if it varies over time to such a degree that it causes every atom in the Universe to tear apart from the inside out. The summary of the theory goes that given enough time, not only do galaxies race away from each other over but eventually so do stars, then planets, and eventually atoms and also their nuclei as dark energy inevitably overtakes the respective forces that hold these things together.

The Degenerate Age is dark; no visible light is available to illuminate the exterior of any surviving objects.

The Heat death of the Universe

This scenario is possible only if the Universe achieves either a steady state or a constant expansion. The implication here is that dark energy does not overtake the other forces of nature on a micro-scale over time because of hyper-inflation of the Universe, but it doesn't mean that the Universe won't expand. It may just expand more slowly than in the Big Rip scenario. Due to supernova explosion observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, dark energy is assumed to be the overriding force governing the Universe's fate and is causing it to accelerate in its expansion. It is unknown what this force is and whether it really exists as a real phenomenon. Given observational data however, it seems most likely the Heat death of the universe is the most likely fate

Note: Longer-term timeline discussion for this scenario continues in this article after this section

The Big Crunch

This scenario is possible only if dark energy is ultimately unable to overcome the force of gravity between galaxies, which inevitably leads to the collapse of the Universe. Observational data does not support this theory, though the alternative, dark energy, is somewhat speculative and ill-defined. What occurs after the Big Crunch is also highly speculative, as it is impossible to say what will happen after time ends. The end of the Universe implies the end of both space and time, making theories on the subject of "what happens after" fall into the realm of religion, metaphysics, or philosophy. Possibilities for continuation of existence include the oscillatory universe, the multiverse, and others.

Long-term future for a long-lived Universe

This is an asteroid, one of the last survivors in a dying Universe. In reality it's unlikely the object would be illuminated by a surviving star and would probably be immersed in darkness during this Age.

The Degenerate Age - from 10¹⁴ to 10⁴⁰ years

Galaxy and Star Formation Ceases: 10¹⁴ years

Stellar formation stops, leaving matter to decay over a very long period of time. The hydrogen fuel used for fusion by stars will be eventually depleted, leaving all matter in the Universe in a compact state populated by the following objects after all stars burn out:

• Planets and planetoids (this category includes asteroids, comets, brown dwarfs, etc.)
• White dwarfs
• Neutron stars
• Quark stars
• Black Holes

Formerly luminous bodies like stars cool and dim, eventually reaching the same temperature as the Universe's microwave background radiation.

Planet are Flung from Orbits: 10¹⁵ years

Over time, the orbits of planets are kicked into other masses (see above) or scattered throughout the Universe due to gravitational perturbations.

Stars are Flung from Orbits: 10¹⁶ years

The same scattering effect happens to stars and their remnants within galaxies, leaving mostly scattered stellar debris and supermassive black holes

An estimated 1/2 of Protons Decay: 10³⁶ years

If estimates on the half-life of protons are correct, then one-half off all the free-floating matter in the Universe has been converted into gamma radiation through proton decay

All Protons Decay: 10⁴⁰ years

If estimates on the half-life of protons are correct, then these particles (and nucleonic neutrons as well) have now undergone roughly 10,000 half-lives. To put this into perspective: There are an estimated 10⁸⁰ protons in the Universe, and the estimated half-life for this particle is 10³⁶ years. That means the proton's numbers have been slashed in half 10,000 times. If one does the math, there are now roughly 10^-3,000 as many protons as there were at the beginning of the Universe. So that means the total number of remaining protons in the Universe at the end of the Degenerate Era would be far less than one (a very tiny fraction something like 3,000 zeroes after the decimal place before the first significant digit). Effectively, all matter is now contained in the only bodies in the Universe immune to proton decay: black holes

Note: This number is based off of loose estimates as the exact value for the half-life of protons is an unknown quantity with only a known lower-bound. The end of the Degenerate Era is meant to mark the end of baryonic matter's influence on the Universe, so the estimate for how long this era will last may change if and when the exact value for proton decay is pinned down. The specific numerical values are not meant to be taken literally, and are provided only for demonstration purposes.

The Black Hole Age - from 10⁴⁰ years to 10¹⁰⁰ years

Black Holes Dominate: 10⁴⁰ years

Black holes continue to evaporate via Hawking radiation, but this process is very slow. The first to go are the small ones, then the medium sized ones, and eventually the supermassive black holes too eventually decay into photons.

Black Holes Disintegrate: 10¹⁰⁰ years

Few if any black holes remain; virtually all matter is now converted into photons.

See also 10¹⁹ seconds for times further than 3 billion years into the future.

Ultimate fate for a long-lived Universe

The Dark Age - from 10¹⁰⁰ years until 10¹⁵⁰ years

All Black Holes now Disintegrated: 10¹⁵⁰ years

The remaining Black holes evaporate: first the small ones, and then the supermassive black holes. All matter that used to make up the stars and galaxies has now degenerated into photons

The Photon Age - from 10¹⁵⁰ years until the Distant Future

The Universe Achieves Low-Energy State: 10¹⁰⁰⁰ years and beyond

The Universe now reaches extreme low-energy state. What happens after this is speculative. It's possible a Big Rip event may occur far off into the future, or the Universe may settle into this state forever, achieving true heat death. Extreme low-energy states imply that localized quantum events become major macro-scale phenomenon rather than micro-scale non-events because the smallest pertubations make the biggest difference in this era, so there is no telling what may happen to space or time during this era

References

• Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, Bantam Press, 1988

Fred C. Adams, Greg Laughlin, The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity

See Also

• Creation (theology) for some theological viewpoints of creation
• End of the Universe for theories about possible final fates for the Universe
• Exponential timeline shows all history on one page in ten lines.
• Galaxy formation and evolution talks about the currect era of star and galaxy formation
• Geologic timescale
• History of physics
• History of astronomy
• History of chemistry
• Timeline of the Big Bang goes into the Big Bang Era in more detail
• Ultimate fate of the universe goes into the end-case scenarios in more detail

External Links

• Holtz, Brian (2002). Human Knowledge: Foundations and Limits (http://humanknowledge.net/Thoughts.html#Timeline). Retrieved March 25, 2004.
• PBS Online (2000). From the Big Bang to the End of the Universe - The Mysteries of Deep Space Timeline (http://www.pbs.org/deepspace/timeline/). Retrieved March 24, 2005.
• Schulman, Eric (1997). The History of the Universe in 200 Words or Less (http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3fs8i/hist/hist.html). Retrieved March 24, 2005.
• Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach (2005). Home of the Hubble Space Telescope (http://hubblesite.org/). Retrieved March 24, 2005.

hu:Az Univerzum idővonala ja:宇宙の年表