Graphical timeline of the Big Bang

"Main source article: Timeline of the Big Bang"

This timeline of the Big Bang shows the sequence of events as predicted by the Big Bang theory, from the beginning of time to the end of the Dark Ages.

It is a logarithmic scale that shows $10*log\_\{10\}$ "second" instead of "second". For example, one microsecond is $10*log\_\{10\}\; 0.000\; 001\; =\; 10*(-6)\; =\; -60$. To convert -30 read on the scale to second calculate $10^\{-30/10\}\; =\; 10^\{-3\}\; =\; 0.001$ second = one millisecond. On a logarithmic time scale a step lasts ten times longer than the previous step.

ImageSize = width:720 height:1000PlotArea = left:40 right:256 bottom:75 top:75

Colors = id:period1 value:rgb(1,1,0.7) # light yellow id:period2 value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) # light blue id:events value:rgb(1,0.7,1) # light purple id:era1 Value:yellowgreen id:era2 value:lightorange id:time1 Value:coral id:time2 Value:lavender

DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:-430 till:155TimeAxis = format:yyyy orientation:vertical # order:reverse does not workScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-430 # secondScaleMinor = 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:(240,75) text:Planck epoch pos:(250,50) text:Big Bang pos:(20,50) text:"0: Linear time" pos:(116,35) text:"The Augustinian Era" pos:(10,980) text:"Logarithmic time:" text:"10*log second" pos:(154,946) text:"NEXT" pos:(117,931) text:The Stelliferous Era pos:(245,950) text:"Reionization"

LineData = layer:front at:123 frompos:358 tillpos:369 width:0.5 # Matter domination points:(369,878)(402,800) width:0.5 points:(402,800)(413,800) width:0.5

PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:M

width:53 bar:Clock color:events align:right shift:(28,3) mark:(line,teal) 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:(43,3) at:135 text:"One million years"

width:53 bar:Era mark:(line,white) align:center shift:(0,0) from:-430 till:135 color:era1 text:"The Primordial Era"

width:53 bar:Dummy3

width:158 bar:Periods align:center shift:(0,0) mark:(line,white) 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:(-40,0) 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:(line,purple) textcolor:black fontsize:M bar:Events color:events align:left shift:(30,-4)

at:-430 shift:(30,-12) text:"Planck time, the smallest theoretical 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 ~electronuclear force." from:-360 till:-320 align:left shift:(-55,0) color:time1 text:"Inflationary epoch. The Universe expands exponentially" at:-320 shift:(30,4) 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:(line,white) text:"Formation of hydrogen nuclei." at:0 text:"Neutrinos cease to interact with other particles." at:23 shift:(30,-11) text:"Lepton/anti-lepton pairs annihilate." from:23 till:31 align:center shift:(0,-4) color:time2 text:"Big Bang nucleosynthesis" at:31 shift:(30,2) text:"3 to 20 minutes: Formation of helium nuclei" from:129 till:131 shift:(-114,-2) color:time1 mark:(line,white) text:""
# at:123 shift:(30,-32) text:"" at:123 mark:(line,white) shift:(30,-83) text:"" 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:155 text:"100 million years: First star begins to shine."

ee also

*Graphical timeline of the Stelliferous Era
*Graphical timeline of our universe
*Graphical timeline from Big Bang to Heat Death