Universe in One Image

Here's the entire history of the universe in a single image below.

The Big Bang started the universe 13.8 billion years ago. In under a second, it had expanded more rapidly than the speed of light in a process termed cosmic inflation.

In the time that followed, as the universe cooled, matter absorbed energy, forming a hot plasma of dense particles. Around 380,000 years later, atoms started to form, and light was able to pass freely for the first time. This ancient glow, called the cosmic microwave background, remains detectable across the universe today.

These first stars lit up the universe and shredded the surrounding hydrogen in a phenomenon called reionization. Galaxies developed over billions of years into the giant formations we observe today. Scientists used to think that this expansion was slowing down, but in 1998, they realized that dark energy was accelerating it.

If things keep going this way, the universe could expand forever and grow cold and empty once all the stars have burned out. Then the universe would be simply a dark void.