| Augustinian Era | Pre Big Bang |
| This is the name scientists give to the time before the Big Bang. It is named after Saint Augustine who said before the Earth, there was no time. According to Einstein in his Theory of Relativity, there were no times before the Big Bang. |
| | Planck Epoch | 10-43 seconds |
| Named after Max Planck who proposed this period of time. It is proposed that at this point in time, gravity was as powerful as the other known forces ( Electromagnetism, Weak Nuclear, Strong Nuclear ). |
| | Grand Unification | 10-43 seconds to 10-36 seconds |
| At this point in time, gravitational forces split from the three other forces ( Electromagnetism, Weak Nulear, Strong Nuclear ) |
| | Electroweak Epoch | 10-36 seconds and 10-12 seconds |
| Once the universe had started cooling, the strong nuclear force has broken away from the other two forces. |
| | Inflationary Epoch | 10-36 seconds and 10-32 seconds |
| It is a point of rapid growth where the universe grows a speck to something the size of which can be seen by a human eye if we were round in those days which we weren't. The Universe wouldn't be much bigger than a marble or a football field. |
| | Supersymmetry Breaking |
| Quark Epoch | 10-36 seconds and 10-32 seconds |
| During this period in time, quarks and anti-quarks began forming and destroying themselves. |
| | Hadron Epoch | 10-6 seconds and 1 second |
| This is the time when Quarks began joining together thus creating Hadrons. Hadrons were widespread but by the end, Hadrons and Anti-Hadrons had eliminated each other. |
| | Lepton Epoch | 1 second and 3 minutes |
| During this time, Leptons were numerous in number but by the end of this period, Leptons and Anti-Leptons had annihilated itself. |
| | Photon Epoch | 3 minutes and 380,000 years |
| When the Leptons had ceased, they began turning into Photons. |
| | Nucleosynthesis | 3 minutes and 20 minutes |
| A subsection of the previous epoch. This was when atomic nuclei begin to form. During this time, there were 3x's more Hydrogen than Helium-4. |
| | Matter Domination | 70,000 years |
| During this period of time, non-relativistic matter (atomic nuclei) and relativistic radiation (photons) are equal. |
| | Recombination | 240,000 - 310,000 years |
| At this point in time, Hydrogen and Helium begin to form. By the end of this period, most of the atoms are neutral which means photons travel unhindered. |
| | Matter Era | About 300,000 years |
| The period we are in now when matter has formed and the galaxy starts to take shape. |
| | |
| First Star | About 200 Million Years |
| Scientists believe the first stars would have taken shape around that period. They would have been many times more massive than our own Sun. There would be no planets as the heavy elements that are needed for planets would not have formed by then. Looking for these stars would be fruitless as they would have supernovad by now. |
| | Early Galaxies | About 500 Million Years |
| Unlike early stars, early galaxies would still be around today as they are made up of many millions of stars. When an early star exploded, its remains would be used to build new stars. Currently the earliest galaxies we have seen date from about 500 million years after the big bang. |
| | The Sun | About 5 Billion Years Ago |
| Scientists believe the Sun began life around 5 Billion Years ago, its said to be about middle aged. It began life as a matter cloud which began to shrink. People don't know what caused the cloud to begin to collapse, possibly an explosion somewhere else in the galaxy is a likely explanation. |
| | The Earth | About 4.5 Billion Years Ago |
| Scientists believe the Earth began its life around that period of time when the Sun had formed and left over dust from the creation of the Sun began to join and form planets, asteroids etc. It is believed a planet was to form between Mars and Jupiter but couldn't because of Jupiters gravitational power. |
| | The Moon | Between 4.5 - 4 Billion Years Ago |
| It is believed that the Moon was created around that sort of time when an object the size of Mars smashed into the Earth causing debris to shoot into space and form a spherical object. |
| | |
The next list of eras is not an exhaustive list, there are other eras in between and after.
The ones I have chosen is either because they are well known (e.g. Jurassic) or of importance. |
| |
| Hadean Period - Basin Groups | About 4 Billion Years Ago |
| The first basic life-forms began their existance. |
| | Hadean Period - Lower Imbrian | About 4 Billion Years Ago |
| The end of the Late Heavy Bombardment period when the Earth and Moon was bombarded by rocks from outer space. |
| | Archean Period - Eoarchean Period | About 3.8 Billion Years Ago |
| Simple single-celled lifeforms began their existance. |
| | Proterozoic Period - Paleoproterozoic | 2.05 Billion Years Ago |
| Atmosphere becomes Oxygenic, breathable by todays standards. |
| | Proterozoic Period - Neoproterozoic | 1000 - 630 Million Years Ago |
| Fossils of multi-cellar life forms have been discovered. |
| | Mesozoic Period - Triassic | 251 - 200 Million Years Ago |
| Dinosaurs begin to dominate such as Ichthyosaurs and nothosaurs, and in the air as pterosaurs. |
| | Mesozoic Period - Jurassic | 199.6 - 150 Million Years Ago |
| Many types of dinosaurs, such as sauropods, carnosaurs, and stegosaurs. |
| | Mesozoic Period - Cretaceous | 150 - 70.6 Million Years Ago |
| Flowering plants dominate along with new types of dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is also at the end of this period that the dinosaurs are wiped off from the face of the Earth. Most likely explanation is the meteor strike. |
| | Cenozoic Period - Neogene | 23 Million Years Ago |
| Humans begin to appear on the Earth. During this time, supervolcano Lake Toba explodes (circa. 75,000 years ago) and pushes humanity to the brink of extinction. The survivors are our ancestors. |
| | Today | Present |
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