Cosmic Atlas is © 2018 Alex Read
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13.8 GaGa = billions of years ago
The Big Bang
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Big Bang + 380,000 years
The Dark
ages begin
The universe is a fog of particles created in the aftermath of the big bang.
Big Bang + 150 million years
First stars form
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12.8 GaGa = billions of years ago
First galaxies form
Gravity pulls matter together into vast galaxies.
12.7 GaGa = billions of years ago
First known exoplanet forms
The snappily named PSR B1620-26 b orbits around two stars instead of one, and is far, far older than our own planet.
12.5 GaGa = billions of years ago
The Milky Way forms
Our galaxy now contains 250 billion stars
10.8 GaGa = billions of years ago
First galaxy clusters form
Galaxies are pulled together into gigantic groups.
10.4 GaGa = billions of years ago
First life-friendly
star systems
The first stars theoretically capable of supporting life would have formed around now.
10.3 GaGa = billions of years ago
Star formation rate peaks
The average temperature at the time was 13,000 degrees. It's gotten a little cooler since then.
9.4 GaGa = billions of years ago
Barnard's star forms
Barnard's star is the grandfather of our Sun's neighbourhood, being the oldest nearby star.
8.8 GaGa = billions of years ago
First galaxy superclusters form
The galaxies, already clustered together, are now bound by gravity over immense distances: hundreds of millions of light years.
7.1 GaGa = billions of years ago
Universe cools below 5 K–268 °C
The radiation from the Big Bang has spread enough to lower the average temperature almost to absolute zero.
6 GaGa = billions of years ago
Dark energy overcomes gravity
The expansion of the universe starts to speed up, as the gravity keeping it together is overcome.
5.5 GaGa = billions of years ago
Milky Way's spirals have formed
After a million years of spiralising, the Milky Way becomes a spiral galaxy.
4.85 GaGa = billions of years ago
Proxima Centauri forms
The Sun's closest neighbour, Proxima Centauri is a cosmological stone's throw of 4 light years away.
4.57 GaGa = billions of years ago
The Sun forms
A cloud of gas becomes dense enough to cause nuclear fusion, igniting our Sun.
4.56 GaGa = billions of years ago
Earth forms
The young protoplanet that will become Earth forms from the protoplanetary discThe disc of debris around a young star that forms planets around the Sun, as do the other planets.
4.53 GaGa = billions of years ago
The Moon forms
Theia, another protoplanet orbiting near the young Earth, collides with it. The debris forms the Earth's moon, and the impact gives Earth a 'wobble,' which causes our seasons.
~3.9 GaGa = billions of years ago
Life begins on Earth
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3.5 GaGa = billions of years ago
Last universal ancestor.
The last common ancestor of every living thing on Earth today lived here. Its descendents became the kingdoms bacteria and archaea.
3.1 GaGa = billions of years ago
First land life
Some adventurous bacteria venture out of the ocean for the first time.
3.1 GaGa = billions of years ago
First eukaryotes
Eukaryotes are creatures with a specific kind of cell structure, and includes all animals, plants, and fungi on Earth.
2.5 GaGa = billions of years ago
The Great Oxygenation Event
Photosynthesis of ocean bacteria starts pumping oxygen into the Earth's atmosphere, making today's life possible.
2.2 GaGa = billions of years ago
Ozone layer forms
The ozone layer in our atmosphere absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. Without it we could not survive.
2.1 GaGa = billions of years ago
First multicellular life
Life on Earth evolves past single-celled organisms
1.2 GaGa = billions of years ago
First sexual reproduction
Bangiomorpha pusbescens, a kind of red algae, is the first species to ditch splitting itself in half and repoduce sexually instead.
540–520 MaMa = millions of years ago
Cambrian explosion
An explosion of life, that is, as species diversify rapidly, giving rise to the complex range of creatures on Earth today.
525 MaMa = millions of years ago
First trilobites
You're able to find these as fossils today. I think they're adorable.
450 MaMa = millions of years ago
Plants and arthropods spread across the land
Arthropods today include invertebrates like insects, arachnidsSpiders and scorpions, and crustaceansCrabs, lobsters, woodlice.
305 MaMa = millions of years ago
Atmospheric oxygen peaks
With 35% of the atmosphere oxygen, creatures could grow to enormous sizes — like the meganeura, a dragonfly with a 70cm wingspan!
300 MaMa = millions of years ago
Pangaea forms
The last great supercontinent. The landmass has since drifted apart into today's continents.
251 MaMa = millions of years ago
The Permian Extinction
The biggest extinction in Earth's history: as much as 96% of its species go extinct. This leaves a gap for the reptiles to take over the world …
243 MaMa = millions of years ago
First dinosaurs
The oldest confirmed dinosaur fossil is that of Nyasasaurus.
225 MaMa = millions of years ago
First mammals
Mammals evolved from mammal-like reptiles called therapsids. At this point, mammals were mostly tiny, shrew-like creatures.
66 MaMa = millions of years ago
Creteceous extinction
The dinosaurs are wiped out by the Chixalub asteroid impact, in modern-day Mexico. With less predators, small mammals will now evolve into more dominant life forms.
60 MaMa = millions of years ago
First primates
Primates, the order modern humans belong to, begins.
55 MaMa = millions of years ago
First birds
Birds as we know them evolve around now.
8 MaMa = millions of years ago
Rigel forms
This blue hypergiant forms the bright shoulder of the constellation Orion.
195,000 years ago
First humans
The first humans, homo sapiens, appear in east Africa.
5,000 years ago
First civilisations
Agriculture allows humans to start building cities, in the Middle-East and Egypt. We have already been recording the stars for thousands of years.
1610
Galileo discovers his moons
Galileo Galelei was the first person to use a telescope for astronomical research. He discovered Jupiter's four biggest moons, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io, which is why they are called the Galilean moons.
1781
Discovery of Uranus
Uranus was the first planet to be discovered using a telescope, by William Herschel. The first six planets were known since ancient times.
1801
First asteroid discovered
More of the solar system was slotted into place, as Ceres, the largest of the asteroids, was discovered.
1846
Discovery of Neptune
Neptune was the last of the planets to be discovered, by German Johann Galle.
1930
Discovery of Pluto
Pluto is discovered in America by Clyde Tombaugh. At the time it was assumed to be much larger, and so was called the ninth planet, but astronomers now classify it as a dwarf planet.
1957
First satellite: Sputnik 1
The Soviet Union launch the first artificial satellite into orbit, marking the start of the Space Race.
1961
First man
in space
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin travels around the world in record time as he is blasted into space.
1966
First "soft" Moon landing
Russia's Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to land on the Moon without crashing into it.
1969
Man walks on
the Moon
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1971
First space station: Salyut 1
After one successful stay by cosmonauts on the space station, disaster grounded Soviet rockets. Unable to reach Salyut, it ran out of fuel and was destroyed by de-orbiting.
1977
Launch of the Voyager probes
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1981
First Space Shuttle launch
The Space Shuttle was NASA's resuable spacecraft. Five Shuttles were used in a total of 135 missions, until 2011.
1997
First Mars rover
NASA's Sojourner was the first Mars rover. It transmitted data for 83 Martian days, twelve times longer than expected.
1998
International Space Station launched
The ISS is a collaborative effort between fifteen nations. You can sometimes see it overhead as a fast-moving star.
2020
James Webb Space Telescope
This giant reflecting telescope will orbit Earth, and give us better-than-ever pictures of the cosmos. It's named after James E. Webb, the NASA administrator who oversaw the Apollo program.
In 13,000 years
Earth wobbles the other way
The planet's axial tilt reverses, so that nothern hemisphere's summer is in December.
In 100,000 years
Constellations unrecognisable
The movement of stars, as seen from Earth, changes present-day constellations.
In 1 MyrMyr = million years
Betelgeuse explodes
By this time, the red giant Betelgeuse will have exploded in a supernova.
In 1.35 MyrMyr = million years
A star passes through our solar system
The star Gliese 710 will pass through the Sun's Oort Cloud, a mere 77 light days from Earth. It will be the most disruptive event in history to orbits in our solar system.
In 8 MyrMyr = million years
Mars gets rings
Phobos, Mars' larger moon, will have been disintegrated into a small ring system by the planet's tidal forces.
In 75 MyrMyr = million years
Saturn's rings disappear
Saturn's rings are actually 'only' about 100 million years old, making them a relatively new addition to the solar system.
In 150 MyrMyr = million years
Days become 25 hours long
The Earth's rotation, which has been slowing since its formation, will have added another hour to the day.
In 240 MyrMyr = million years
One galactic year
The Sun will have completed one giant orbit around the core of the Milky Way.
In 600 MyrMyr = million years
Total solar eclipses cease
The moon, which is slowly drifting away from Earth, will be too far away to completely block out the Sun.
In 800 MyrMyr = million years
Multicellular life impossible
Conditions on Earth will have deteriated to the point where almost all life will be gone.
In 900 MyrMyr = million years
Earth's oceans evaporate
This is not good news for anyone hanging around.
In 1.3 GyrGyr = billion years
Eukaryotes go extinct
Eukaryotes, including plants, animals, and fungi, go extinct from lack of CO2.
In 2.3 GyrGyr = billion years
Earth's outer core solidifies
The moving iron at Earth's core generates its magnetic field, which protects us from solar radiation. Once the core freezes, Earth will be left without this shield.
In 2.8 GyrGyr = billion years
Earth reaches
150 °C
With temperatures at 420 K and the ever-growing Sun overhead, the Earth's surface will resemble Venus' today.
In 4 GyrGyr = billion years
Milky Way collides with Andromeda
Our galaxy will intermingle with its largest neighbour to create a new 'Milkomeda' galaxy (unless anyone can come up with a better name before then).
In 5 GyrGyr = billion years
Sun becomes a red giant
Once the Sun burns through its hydrogen fuel source, it will expand into a red giant, and emit 2700 times more power than it does now.
In 7.9 GyrGyr = billion years
Sun swallows inner plannets
Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth will be vaporised by the expanding Sun.
In 8 GyrGyr = billion years
Sun becomes a white dwarf
Entering the final stages of its life, the Sun sheds its outer layers in a planetary nebula, shrinks and cools into a white dwarf.
In 15 GyrGyr = billion years
Main sequence stars run out of fuel
Most 'main sequence' stars, those like our Sun, will have exhausted their fuel supply.
In 450 GyrGyr = billion years
Local Group of galaxies combines
All 47 galaxies in our cluster, the 'Local Group,' will have become one.
In 1 trillion years
Star formation ends
No more stars will be born.
In 1 quadrillion years
Solar systems no longer exist
Planets have either been flung out of orbit or destroyed.
In 1 quintillion years
Galaxies no longer exist
Stars have either been flung out of orbit or sucked into black holes.
The Degenerate Era
All protons have decayed
The building blocks inside every atom will have decayed into energy.
Heat death of the universe
All that ever was becomes an empty, forever-expanding nothingness …
13.8 GaGa = billions of years ago
The Big Bang
The universe starts expanding from an infinitesimally small point. Conditions are immensely hot.
We can tell the age of the universe by examining microwave background radiation, energy left over from the Big Bang.
© NASA
The observable universe.
Big Bang + 150 million years
First stars form
Gravity pulls fogs of particles into dense clouds (nebulae), which ignite into the first stars in the universe. How big a star is determines what kind of star it will become, and also how it will die: in a planetary nebula, like our Sun, or in a supernova. The biggest stars become black holes.
300 MyrMyr = millions of years after the Big Bang, enough stars have formed to end the Dark Ages.
The oldest star, HD 140283, is known as the Methuselah star.
© NASA & ESA
The oldest known star.
~3.9 GaGa = billions of years ago
Life begins on Earth
Around 4 billion years ago, the oceans of Earth spawned its first life.
Theories differ as to how it happened: some think life was brought to Earth by an asteroid (panspermia?); other evidence suggests that life could just have been a chemical coincidence, just aligning amino acids and a spark.
Photo: Paul Harrison
The oldest fossils on Earth are stromatolites in Western Australia.
1969
Man walks on
the Moon
Neil Armstrong first stepped off Apollo 11's Eagle lander and onto the lunar soil at 02:56 UTC on the 21st July 1969. It was the culmination of 8 years of work on the Apollo program, and the climax of the Space Race.
After four days journeying through space, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of another world, with the whole Earth hanging over their heads. Meanwhile, fellow astronaut Michael Collins piloted the command module, still orbiting the Moon.
© NASA
Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Neil Armstrong is visible in the reflection of Aldrin's visor.
1977
Launch of the Voyager probes
The two Voyager probes took advantage of rare planetary alignment. Between them, they visited all four of the gas giants in our solar system, and became the first probes to visit Uranus and Neptune.
Today, Voyager 1 is the furthest man-made object from Earth, approximately 21 billion kilometers (141 AU1 AU (astronomical unit) is the distance from the Sun to the Earth) away, and is still sending back valuable data on the outskirts of the solar system.
Each probe contains a 'Golden Record,' encoded with information about our world, should some extraterrestrial life run into it.
© NASA
Voyager, our furthest creation.