For a graphical timeline, see Graphical timeline from Big Bang to Heat Death.
For the academic discipline which examines history from the Big Bang to the present day, see Big History. For chronology as timeline, see timeline of the early universe.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Chronology of the universe" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Big Bang · Universe
Age of the universe
Chronology of the universe
Early universe
Inflation · Nucleosynthesis
Backgrounds
Gravitational wave (GWB)
Microwave (CMB) · Neutrino (CNB)
Expansion · Future
Hubble's law · Redshift
Expansion of the universe
FLRW metric · Friedmann equations
Inhomogeneous cosmology
Future of an expanding universe
Ultimate fate of the universe
Components · Structure
Components
Lambda-CDM model
Dark energy · Dark matter
Structure
Shape of the universe
Galaxy filament · Galaxy formation
Large quasar group
Large-scale structure
Reionization · Structure formation
Experiments
Black Hole Initiative (BHI)
BOOMERanG
Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
Dark Energy Survey
Planck space observatory
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey ("2dF")
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
Scientists
Aaronson
Alfvén
Alpher
Copernicus
de Sitter
Dicke
Ehlers
Einstein
Ellis
Friedmann
Galileo
Gamow
Guth
Hawking
Hubble
Huygens
Kepler
Lemaître
Mather
Newton
Penrose
Penzias
Rubin
Schmidt
Smoot
Suntzeff
Sunyaev
Tolman
Wilson
Zeldovich
List of cosmologists
Subject history
Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation
History of the Big Bang theory
Timeline of cosmological theories
Category
Astronomy portal
v
t
e
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.[1]
Nature timeline
This box:
view
talk
edit
−13 —
–
−12 —
–
−11 —
–
−10 —
–
−9 —
–
−8 —
–
−7 —
–
−6 —
–
−5 —
–
−4 —
–
−3 —
–
−2 —
–
−1 —
–
0 —
Dark Ages
Reionization
Matter-dominated era
Accelerated expansion
Water on Earth
Single-celled life
Photosynthesis
Multicellular life
Vertebrates
←
Earliest Universe
←
Earliest stars
←
Earliest galaxy
←
Earliest quasar / black hole
←
Omega Centauri
←
Andromeda Galaxy
←
Milky Way spirals
←
NGC 188 star cluster
←
Alpha Centauri
←
Earth / Solar System
←
Earliest known life
←
Earliest oxygen
←
Atmospheric oxygen
←
Sexual reproduction
←
Earliest fungi
←
Earliest animals / plants
←
Cambrian explosion
←
Earliest mammals
←
Earliest apes / humans
L i f e
(billion years ago)
^Planck Collaboration (October 2016). "Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 594: Article A13. arXiv:1502.01589. Bibcode:2016A&A...594A..13P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201525830. S2CID 119262962. The Planck Collaboration in 2015 published the estimate of 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago (68% confidence interval). See PDF: page 32, Table 4, Age/Gyr, last column.
and 28 Related for: Chronology of the universe information
The heat death oftheuniverse (also known as the Big Chill or Big Freeze) is a hypothesis on the ultimate fate oftheuniverse, which suggests the universe...
The observable universe is a ball-shaped region oftheuniverse consisting of all matter that can be observed from Earth or its space-based telescopes...
Theuniverse is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant...
cosmology, the age oftheuniverse is the time elapsed since the Big Bang. Astronomers have derived two different measurements ofthe age oftheuniverse: a measurement...
The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how theuniverse expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. It was first proposed...
cosmology, the shape oftheuniverse refers to both its local and global geometry. Local geometry is defined primarily by its curvature, while the global...
and theuniverse Cosmography – Science that maps theuniverseChronologyoftheuniverse – History and future oftheuniverse Ultimate fate ofthe universe –...
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space...
The Cosmic Calendar is a method to visualize thechronologyoftheuniverse, scaling its currently understood age of 13.8 billion years to a single year...
cosmology is concerned with the study ofthechronologyoftheuniverse. Physical cosmology is the study ofthe observable universe's origin, its large-scale...
observations suggest that the expansion oftheuniverse will continue forever. The prevailing theory is that theuniverse will cool as it expands, eventually...
The expansion oftheuniverse is the increase in distance between gravitationally unbound parts ofthe observable universe with time. It is an intrinsic...
This is the timeline oftheUniverse from Big Bang to Heat Death scenario. The different eras oftheuniverse are shown. The heat death will occur in around...
Observations show that the expansion oftheuniverse is accelerating, such that the velocity at which a distant galaxy recedes from the observer is continuously...
The ultimate fate oftheuniverse is a topic in physical cosmology, whose theoretical restrictions allow possible scenarios for the evolution and ultimate...
The timeline ofthe early universe outlines the formation and subsequent evolution oftheUniverse from the Big Bang (13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago)...
Sitter universe is a cosmological solution to the Einstein field equations of general relativity, named after Willem de Sitter. It models theuniverse as...
Theory of rapid universe expansion Big Bang – Physical theory describing the expansion oftheuniverseChronologyoftheuniverse – History and future of the...
to the Planck epoch, theuniverse had no boundary in space-time; before the Big Bang, time did not exist and the concept ofthe beginning ofthe universe...
cosmology that govern the expansion of space in homogeneous and isotropic models oftheuniverse within the context of general relativity. They were first...
supercluster named the Laniakea Supercluster Johann Bayer Andreas Cellarius Cosmographia Julius Schiller Star cartography ChronologyoftheUniverse Cosmogony...
of cosmological epochs For a timeline oftheuniverse from the present to its presumed conclusion, see: Timeline ofthe far future Chronologyofthe universe...
probing thechronologyoftheuniverse and growth of cosmic structure, with the end goal of measuring the effects of dark energy, the consistency of general...