Consider something unbelievably tiny, unbelievably dense, and incredibly hot. Then, suddenly, space, time, and all molecular matter burst in ways that no words can express. What is known is that the Universe expanded at an unfathomable rate in a fraction of a second. Some recognised subatomic particles and fundamental forces emerged as a result of this expansion. The Universe then began to cool drastically, to around 1 billion degrees Celsius, allowing energy and ultimately matter (plasma of nuclei, electron and photons) to emerge.

The Big Bang

3,80,000 years after The Big BangAs the universe expanded, plasma grew cooler and cooler. The universe cooled down further to 3000 K, making it possible for the nuclei in the plasma to gain electrons and become full-fledged neutral Hydrogen and Helium atoms. Photons of light tangled in the plasma could now move freely and were released. The universe became transparent for the first time. This is known as cosmic microwave background that we can see even today.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

The entire universe was made up of Hydrogen and helium gas clouds with no stars and planets.After the release of CMB, nothing in the Universe radiated light until around 200 million years after the Big Bang when the first stars began to form.

Cosmic Dark Age

About 200 million years after The Big BangDue to gravity, hydrogen and helium clouds began to clump together. Tiny imperfections. Little knots, wrinkles, and flaws began attracting nearby particles of matter. The clumps grew, became more massive, and attracted more particles. Hence, it made them denser, and as a result, gravity became more intense. As the clouds compress more and more, they became hotter, until the center became so hot that nuclear fusion began. This released a tremendous amount of energy, which caused the earliest stars to light up.

First Stars

The gravity that was trying to squash the star together was pushed back by the fusion at the center which created a balance. Within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, were formed. After CMB, these stars were the first source of visible light in the universe.

First Stars Stabilises

About 1 Billion years after The Big Bang Stars formation happened almost everywhere in universe. Thus we have billions and billions of stars. Galaxies were formed out of these swirling clouds of stars and gas in space. Gravity sends these objects careening into one another as other clouds approached, knitting them into larger spinning packs. Material can be slung toward a galaxy's outskirts following collisions, forming large spiral arms filled with star colonies. Since, these were large scale structure it took a long time in an almost homogeneous gas clouds.

The First Galaxies, clusters and superclusters

The Chemicals Cook uphttps://bighistory.in/life-cycle-of-a-star/

Explore: What Comes Next

Threshold II: Formation of the First Stars

Formation of the First Stars

“Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.”

Big History:. Timeline

Consider something unbelievably tiny, unbelievably dense, and incredibly hot. Then, suddenly, space, time, and all molecular matter burst in ways that no words can express. What is known is that the Universe expanded at an unfathomable rate in a fraction of a second. Some recognised subatomic particles and fundamental forces emerged as a result of this expansion. The Universe then began to cool drastically, to around 1 billion degrees Celsius, allowing energy and ultimately matter to emerge.

10e-36 seconds after The Big BangThe universe expanded at an inconceivable speed, from far less than an atom to enormous size. The fundamental forces: Gravity (the force that pulls everything together), Electromagnetism, weak, and strong interaction (the force that holds nuclei together) emerged. Quantum fluctuations produce the microscopic 'wrinkles' in density that keep the universe from becoming completely uniform and homogeneous. This paved the path for subatomic particles like quarks to be formed.﻿

Inflation

The expansion had relatively slowed down. Due to quantum fluctuations subatomic particle like quarks were formed which were the building blocks of protons and neutrons. Quarks and antiquarks formed and annihilated each other. The remaining quarks accounted for one billionth of the prior mass of quarks and antiquarks.

Building Block Of Matter

1 second after the Big BangElectron-positron pairs were created and annihilated, leaving 1/billionth the amount of electrons and positrons behind.

Leptons

10 seconds after The Big BangQuarks combined to generate protons and neutrons. Two up quarks and one down quark make up a proton, while one up quark and two down quarks make up a neutron.As the universe cooled, these neutrons and protons combined further to form hydrogen and helium nuclei. The hydrogen nuclei contained only a single proton while helium nuclei was made up of two protons and two neutrons. Deuterium, Helium-3, and lithium-7 were also formed in trace amounts.

Nuclei

3 minutes after The Big BangThe universe consisted of plasma (superheated state of ordinary matter) of nuclei, electrons, and photons; temperatures were too high for electrons to attach to the nuclei. Because photons of light were tangled up in these charged particles, they couldn't flow freely through the universe. Hence, the universe was utterly Dark.

Plasma

3,77,000 years after The Big BangAs the universe expanded, plasma grew cooler and cooler. The universe cooled down further to 3000 K, making it possible for the nuclei in the plasma to gain electrons and become full-fledged neutral Hydrogen and Helium atoms.

Atoms

3,80,000 years after the Big BangPhotons of light tangled in the plasma could now move freely and were released. The universe became transparent for the first time. This is known as cosmic microwave background that we can see even today.

Cosmic Microwave Background

Formations of First Starshttps://bighistory.in/formation-of-stars-timeline/

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Big History
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Formation of the First Stars

A Journey from The Big Bang to the First Atoms

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Big History @bighistory

Formation of the First Stars

A Journey from The Big Bang to the First Atoms

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Big History
@bighistory