The Universe

Scroll down to traverse across 13.8 billion years of history, and into the unimaginably distant future.

The Big Bang

Space and time explode into existence. The universe expands from an infinitely dense singularity.

First Stars Ignite

Hydrogen gas clouds collapse under gravity to form hypermassive Population III stars.

Solar System Forms

Our Sun ignites. A protoplanetary disk coalesces to form Earth and the other planets.

First Life

Single-celled microbes (archaea and bacteria) appear in Earth's primordial oceans.

K-T Extinction

An asteroid impacts Earth, wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs and allowing mammals to thrive.

Homo Sapiens

Anatomically modern humans evolve in Africa.

Sun Becomes Red Giant

The Sun expands to swallow Mercury, Venus, and likely Earth. Life as we know it ceases locally.

Stelliferous Era Ends

The last star burns out. The universe goes completely dark, populated only by black holes, neutron stars, and brown dwarfs.

The Heat Death

All black holes evaporate via Hawking radiation. Entropy is maximized. Nothing happens, forever.