Inflation projected infinitesimal quantum fluctuations in the young Universe into cosmic scales, leaving some patches with a little more or a little less matter. These variations became the scaffolding for the structure of the Universe. As the Universe expanded, the seething plasma of subatomic particles cooled to form hydrogen, the first atoms.
Some 400,000 years later the first stars formed from the clumps of hydrogen and begin to light-up the Universe. Evidence for the Big Bang includes: All other galaxies are moving away from us.
After five minutes, most of today’s helium had formed, and the universe had expanded and cooled enough that further element formation stopped. At this point, though, the universe was still too hot for the atomic nuclei of these elements to catch electrons and form complete atoms. The cosmos was opaque because a vast number of electrons ...
Exactly what the universe's first light (i.e. stars that fused the existing hydrogen atoms into more helium) looked like, and exactly when these first stars formed is not known. These are some of the questions Webb was designed to help us to answer.
The universe's fundamental particles also formed. It was still so hot, though, that these particles hadn't yet assembled into many of the subatomic particles we have today, such as the proton.
In the early years, everything was made of gas. This gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, expanded and cooled. Over billions of years, gravity caused gas and dust to form galaxies, stars, planets, and more. The matter that spread out from the Big Bang developed into everything in the universe, including you. You are made of star stuff!
How did the creation of the universe lead to our existence? With the current fleet of Astrophysics missions, researchers are able to study the first stars and galaxies forming out of the darkness of the early universe with state-of-the-art technologies that act as powerful time machines, peering back over 13.5 billion years.
But about 300 000 years later, the Universe has cooled enough (to some 3000°C) to allow protons to capture electrons, and form neutral hydrogen atoms (in a phenomenon called 'recombination' or 'decoupling'). The Universe is about 1000 times smaller than its present size. Light can travel without hindrance: the Universe becomes transparent.
The early universe was extremely hot and dense, much like the centre of the Sun. NASA/SDO. As the universe expanded and cooled still further, there were fewer high energy photons (particles of light) in the universe than there had previously been. This is a trigger for the process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN).
Only in 1969, when the first Apollo samples were dated, did we learn that the Moon is an ancient, geologically dead world. Using such dating techniques, we have been able to determine the ages of both Earth and the Moon; each was formed about 4.5 billion years ago (although, as we shall see, Earth probably formed earlier than the Moon).
The Era of Atoms (380,000 years – 1 billion years or so) began as the universe finally cooled and expanded enough for the nuclei to capture free electrons, forming fully-fledged, neutral atoms. Previously trapped photons were finally free to move through space, and the universe became transparent for the first time. These photons have been passing through space ever since, forming the cosmic ...
After 300,000 years, nuclei could finally capture electrons to form atoms, filling the Universe with clouds of hydrogen and helium gas. After around 380,000 years it left behind a bath of photons ...
The universe then expanded outward in a flood of superheated subatomic particles. Three seconds after the big bang, space cooled enough for these particles to form elements. Some 300 million years later, stars and galaxies formed as well.
With that said, all we need to remember is that the temperature of the Universe, today, is 2.725 K, and that the size/scale/redshift of the Universe today is 46.1 billion light-years/defined as 1 ...
In Egyptian cosmology, people believed that the universe emerged from the primordial waters of the creator god, Nun, and these waters formed an abyss with boundless potential and endless possibilities. The sun god, Atum, was credited with bringing structure and form to the cosmos through his creative prowess.
3 Seconds: Subatomic particles such as protons and neutrons combined to form the first atomic nuclei, including hydrogen, helium, and lithium—the foundational elements of the cosmos. 380,000 Years: The universe cooled significantly, allowing electrons to combine with nuclei to form neutral atoms. This development enabled light to travel ...
One of the great questions we have about our universe is what were the first stars like and when did they form? If we came from a hot, dense, rapidly expanding state, we had an era in the universe ...
Learn how the universe was formed in a giant explosion 13.7 billion years ago and how it evolved over time. Discover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy that dominate the cosmos.
