The Big Bang was not an explosion in space but an expansion of space itself. This comprehensive guide explains the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Planck epoch to the formation of stars and galaxies, and clarifies why the common ‘explosion’ metaphor is misleading.
Explore the universe’s journey from the Planck epoch to the first stars and galaxies. This guide covers the major cosmic epochs, the cosmic microwave background, reionization, and the observatories that revealed them.
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is the process that forged the lightest atomic nuclei—deuterium, helium-3, helium-4, and lithium-7—during the first three minutes of cosmic history. This article explains the physics, the timeline, the observational evidence, and why BBN remains a cornerstone of the standard Big Bang model.
Explore the sequence of cosmic epochs that followed the Planck era—from the Grand Unification and inflation to recombination, the dark ages, and the formation of galaxies. This interactive guide explains the key physical processes, temperatures, and observations that define each stage of the universe’s evolution.
Explore the quark epoch—the fleeting first microsecond after the Big Bang when quarks and gluons roamed free—and trace the universe’s evolution through inflation, recombination, and the birth of stars and galaxies.
The Planck epoch is the earliest period in the history of the universe, lasting from t=0 to t=10^-43 seconds, when all four fundamental forces were unified and quantum gravity dominated. This article explores the Planck epoch and the subsequent cosmic epochs that shaped the universe we observe today.
Explore the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Planck epoch to the present day, and examine the question of what—if anything—existed before the Big Bang.
The electroweak epoch was a brief but crucial period in the early universe when the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces were unified, until cooling triggered symmetry breaking. This article explains its timing, physics, and place in the cosmic timeline, from the Planck epoch to structure formation.
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the oldest light in the universe, a faint glow left over from the Big Bang. This article explores its origin, the cosmic epochs it reveals, and how it shapes our understanding of the universe’s evolution.
The last scattering surface is the sphere of light emitted about 380,000 years after the Big Bang, when the universe cooled enough for electrons and protons to form neutral hydrogen. This cosmic relic, observed as the cosmic microwave background, provides a snapshot of the infant universe and anchors our understanding of cosmic evolution from the Planck epoch to the present day.
