This timeline of the Big Bang shows a sequence of events as currently theorized by scientists. It is a logarithmic scale that shows second instead of second. For example, one microsecond is. To convert −30 read on the scale to second calculate second = one millisecond. On a logarithmic time scale a step lasts ten times longer than the previous step. ImageSize = width:720 height:1000 PlotArea = left:40 right:256 bottom:75 top:75 Colors = id:period1 value:rgb # light yellow id:period2 value:rgb # light blue id:events value:rgb # light purple id:era1 Value:yellowgreen id:era2 value:lightorange id:time1 Value:coral id:time2 Value:lavender DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-430 till:155 TimeAxis = format:yyyy orientation:vertical # order:reverse does not work ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-430 # second ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:2 start:-430 AlignBars = justify BarData = bar:Clock bar:Era bar:Dummy3 bar:Periods bar:Dummy4 bar:Events TextData = fontsize:M pos: text:Planck epoch pos: text:Big Bang pos: text:"0: Linear time" pos: text:"Logarithmic time:" text:"10 · log10 second" pos: text:"NEXT" pos: text:The Stelliferous Era pos: text:"Reionization" LineData = layer:front at:123 frompos:358 tillpos:369 width:0.5 # Matter domination points: width:0.5 points: width:0.5 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:M width:53 bar:Clock color:events align:right shift: mark: at:-120 text:"One picosecond" at:-90 text:"One nanosecond" at:-60 text:"One microsecond" at:-30 text:"One millisecond" at:0 text:"One second" at:36 text:"One hour" at:75 text:"One year" at:105 text:"One thousand years" shift: at:135 text:"One million years" width:53 bar:Era mark: align:center shift: from:-430 till:135 color:era1 text:"The Primordial Era" width:53 bar:Dummy3 width:158 bar:Periods align:center shift: mark: from:-430 till:-360 color:period1 text:Grand unification epoch from:-360 till:-120 color:period2 text:Electroweak epoch from:-120 till:-60 color:period1 text:Quark epoch from:-60 till:0 shift: align:left color:period2 text:Hadron epoch from: 0 till:23 color:period1 text:Lepton epoch from: 23 till:131 color:period2 text:Photon epoch from:131 till:155 color:period1 text:"Dark Ages" width:53 bar:Dummy4 width:53 mark: textcolor:black fontsize:M bar:Events color:events align:left shift: at:-430 shift: text:"Planck time, the smallest theoretically observable ~unit of time and the time before which science is ~unable to describe the universe. At this point, the ~force of gravity separated from the electronuclear ~force." at:-360 text:"Separation of the strong force from the ~electroweak force." from:-360 till:-320 align:left shift: color:time1 text:"Inflationary epoch. Universe expands exponentially, Higgs Field" at:-320 shift: text:"Reheating after inflation populates universe ~with quarks and anti-quarks." at:-120 text:"The weak force separates from the ~electromagnetic force resulting in the four ~separate forces we know today." at:-60 text:"Quarks become confined within hadrons." at:-30 mark: text:"Formation of hydrogen nuclei." at:0 text:"Neutrinos cease to interact with other particles." at:23 shift: text:"Lepton/anti-lepton pairs annihilate." from:23 till:31 align:center shift: color:time2 text:"Big Bang nucleosynthesis" at:31 shift: text:"3 to 20 minutes: Formation of helium nuclei" from:129 till:131 shift: color:time1 mark: text:"Recombination"
at:123 mark: shift: text:"70,000 years: Matter domination" at:131 text:"379,000 years: Hydrogen and helium nuclei ~capture electrons to form stable atoms. Photons ~are no longer able to interact strongly with atoms. ~Cosmic microwave background radiation streams ~freely." at:140 text:"10-17 million years: Habitable epoch begins" at:155 text:"100 million years: First star begins to shine."
