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Cosmic Timeline

The cosmic timeline, from the origin of the known Universe in the Big Bang, 13.8 Billion years ago, until present day.

The cosmic timeline, from the origin of the known Universe in the Big Bang, 13.8 Billion years ago, until present day. Shown are major events based on the current standard picture. After the Big Bang, the Universe underwent “Inflation”, a period of accelerated expansion that expanded the Universe by around 60 orders of magnitude. The Universe then kept expanding and cooling until the next major epoch of “Recombination”, when the first hydrogen atoms formed about 400’000 years later. After the subsequent “Dark ages” of the Universe that lasted for a few hundred Million years, the emergence of the earliest galaxies marked the start of the era of “Cosmic dawn”. Within the first galaxies, the first photons were produced and were capable of ionising the neutral hydrogen atoms permeating space. This then started the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR), the most recent major phase transition in the Universe. Isolated galaxies (light dots) produced ionised regions (roundish patches) in the initial stages of reionisation that grew and merged until the Universe was fully re-ionised. 

A graphic by the DELPHI project (ERC 717001) is included in the current illustration. The final graphic was developed during the breakthrough workshop ‘The Chronology of the Very Early Universe According to JWST: The First Billion Years‘ at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland.

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History of the Universe

Schematic illustration of the history and evolution of the universe—from the Big Bang 13.8 Billion years ago to present day—based on our current knowledge and the ground-breaking new insights provided by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Schematic illustration of the history and evolution of the universe—from the Big Bang 13.8 Billion years ago to present day—based on our current knowledge and the ground-breaking new insights provided by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Graphically represented are the Big Bang, the Cosmic Inflation, the Dark Ages, the first galaxies, stars and black holes, the Hydrogen reionisation, and the JWST amongst present-day style galaxies within an ever expanding playground called universe. 

The illustration was developed during the breakthrough workshop ‘The Chronology of the Very Early Universe According to JWST: The First Billion Years‘ at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland.

  • Variable graphical formats
  • Variable content versions
  • Digital and print-ready versions
  • Readable on light & dark backgrounds
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white

Faulty or missing link? – Please report them via a reply below!

Discovered Exoplanets

The entire collection of Exoplanets discovered so far.

The entire collection of exoplanets discovered so far represented with their relative size to scale. Shown are exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system, with known radii. The Scientific colour map ‘batlow‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Alternative visualisation
  • Transparent background
  • Light & dark background versions
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
  • Vector graphics version

Faulty or missing link? – Please report them via a reply below!

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