Cosmic history: This artist's conception illustrates the decline in our universe's "birth-rate" over time. When the universe was young, massive galaxies were forming regularly, like baby bees in a bustling hive. In time, the universe bore fewer and fewer offspring, and newborn galaxies have (white circles) matured into older ones more like the current Milky Way (spirals).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Early universe: Big Bang to 300 million years
• The universe begins with a cataclysm that creates space and time, as well as all the matter and energy it will ever hold.
• As the universe expands and cools, it becomes less dense, and the basic forces of nature become distinct: first gravity, then the strong force, which holds the nuclei of atoms together, followed by the weak and electromagnetic forces.
• Fundamental particles and energy arise: quarks, electrons, photons, neutrinos and so on. These smash together to form protons and neutrons. Eventually, neutral atoms are formed as electrons link up with hydrogen and helium nuclei.
Birth of stars and galaxies: 300 million years
• Gravity amplifies slight irregularities in the density of the primordial gas. As the universe continues to expand, pockets of gas become more and more dense, stars ignite and groups of stars form the earliest galaxies.
Birth of the Sun and Earth: 8.7 billion years to now
• Our Sun forms within a cloud of gas in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. A vast disc of gas and debris swirling around this new star gives birth to planets, moons and asteroids.
• Earth forms, cools and an atmosphere develops. Microscopic living cells evolve and flourish, eventually leading to microbes, fungi, plants and animals. Mammals arise, dinosaurs die out with an asteroid impact, and hominids appear 600,000 years ago.
Stellar Era ends: 100 trillion years into the future
• The universe gradually withers away as it continues expanding.
• This is the end of the Stelliferous Era (from 10,000 years to 100 trillion years after the Big Bang), during which most of the energy generated by the universe is in the form of stars burning hydrogen and other elements in their cores.
Degenerate Era begins: 100 trillion to 1037 years in the future
• This era extends to 10 trillion trillion trillion years after the Big Bang. Most of the mass that we can currently see in the universe is locked up in degenerate stars, those that have blown up and collapsed into black holes and neutron stars, or have withered into white dwarfs.
• Energy in this era is generated through proton decay and particle annihilation.
Black Hole Era begins: 1038 to 10100 years into the future
• This era extends to 10,000 trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion years after the Big Bang.
• After the epoch of proton decay, the only stellar-like objects remaining are black holes of widely disparate masses, which are actively evaporating during this era.
Dark Era begins: 10100 years into the future
• The last dregs of the universe remain. Protons have decayed and black holes have evaporated and only the waste products from these processes still exist: mostly photons of colossal wavelength, neutrinos, electrons, and positrons.
• For all intents and purposes, the universe as we know it has dissipated and lies in ruins.
This timeline is a box that goes with the feature article End of days: a universe in ruins.
Universe
Everything about this article is pure conjecture. Please provide the science for any of the dating; you cannot. This is an exercise in Orwellian mind control. George would be proud. M.....
A response to the kook
The science for the dating is readily available, so cosmos should not need to hold your hand through it and provide you with a lesson merely because you don't know much about cosmology. This is not conjecture, this is what WILL happen, based on everything we know about physics. Read up on black hole decay (famously known as "Hawking Radiation") Read up on the decay of subatomic particles and how long it takes for different types. Read up on the expansion of the universe, a fact demonstrated by many many lines of evidence, including direct observation. No, this is not just conjecture. Some of it may turn out to be off a bit, as our understanding grows, but most of this is pretty solid fact. Orwell would not be proud (a line I have little doubt you use often when you read things you don't like). Though he would likely be amazed, enthralled, and grateful to exist, as any deeply thinking human is.
Agreeing with The Science
This article is strikingly accurate, there are many books and articles from the scientific community that support their thoughts, they shouldn't have to provide you with any data or anything when it is readily available for you to find.
time line to end ot the universe
On what evidence do these numbers come about? These are HUGE numbers. How do they get the 100 trillion, and its a even number. I know science and physics enough to know it will not be an even number when it starts. And why 100 trillion, how about 50 trillion, 88 trillion, I know it will not just start on the 100 trillionth year.
Then 100 trillion to 10 to the 37 years, why not 10 to 25th, or 10 to 44th? And who or whom is going to be there is keep precise records? If these humans do not get off this rock and take EVERYTHING with them all of this world will be lost in about 5 billion years anyway, when the sun expands into a red giant. So all the pain and suffering we put up with EVERY DAY, will be for nothing. No information, no memories, nothing left to show WE WHERE HERE. Then comes the end of the universe anyway and destroys EVERYTHING we humans have done in this universe. So why brother, tolerating all the
"The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die; to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to"(Shakespeare, off the webb)
I could not express it even 1\4 as good. Shakespeare does it all to explain this.
So, why brother?
More Probable is a Cyclic Universe for Infinity
The Universe will collapse on itself to another Big Bang and do this over and over. Simple and beautiful.
It is not so simple. If you
It is not so simple. If you can show exactly how the universe does this, then you would be the greatest thinker that ever lived. Not so simple...
Not simplier than to prove
Not simplier than to prove that existing Cosmos is smth unique..
Who says humans are confined
Who says humans are confined to this universe? There are many theories regarding the existence of other universes. If humanity advances enough, and with the help of super-intelligent AI, it could be possible to reach one of them.
Though the probability is slim. 99% of all living creatures have gone extinct. We probably will too. But there is hope. The only thing we can do is work hard everyday, take nothing for granted, and advance our society as best as we can in the hope that someday, somehow, somebody will figure out how to save us all.
-Steven Kordell
Not confined
I address you tonight, not as the President of the United States,
not as the leader of a country, but as a citizen of humanity.
The Bible calls this day Armageddon, the end of all things.
And yet, for the first time... in the history of the planet,
a species has the technology... to prevent its own extinction.
All of you praying with usneed to know...that everything that can be done to prevent this disaster... is being called into service.
The human thirst for excellence, knowledge, every step up the ladder of science, every adventurous reach into space, all of our combined modern technologies and imaginations, even the wars that we've fought, have provided us the tools...to wage this terrible battle.
Through all the chaos that is our history, through all of the wrongs and the discord, through all of the pain and suffering,
through all of our times, there is one thing that has... nourished our souls... and elevated our species above its origins,
and that is our courage.
Dreams of an entire planet are focused tonight... on those 14 brave souls... travelling into the heavens.
And may we all, citizens the world over, see these events through.
Godspeed and good luck to you.
Taken from the movie "Armageddon"
Timeline: End of the universe
Another theory based of our scientific knowledge to predict the future. This is what scientists think will happen and not will actually happen as scientist theories and predictions are often wrong and change with time as new research reveals a new story and a new theory. Until a theory becomes science fact all theories should be taken with a certain amount of sceptisim and questioned until a proven science fact. Still sounds like there is plenty of time to find out going on the above theory.