The Cosmic Timeline
The Cosmic TimelineAstrophysicists have deduced the age of the Universe
(dated from the Big Bang) to be
13.7 BILLION YEARS!
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/Images/tlbigbang1.gif
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/Images/tlbigbang2.gif
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/Images/tlbigbang3.gif
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/Images/tlbigbang4.gif
Imagine that the entire history of the universe is compressed into one year - with the Big Bang corresponding to the first second of the New Year's Day, and the present time to the last second of December 31st (midnight).
Using this scale of time, each month would equal a little over a billion years. Here's a closer look at when important events would occur when we imagine the universe in one year:
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/Images/cosmiccalendar.gif
The Universe in One Year was inspired by the late astronomer, Carl Sagan (1934-1996). Sagan was the first person to explain the history of the universe in one year-as a "Cosmic Calendar"-in his television series, Cosmos.
Let us look at the calendar in a bit more detail:
Cosmic Calendar (From The Dragons of Eden - Carl Sagan)Pre-December Dates
Big BangJanuary 1
Origin of Milky Way GalaxyMay 1
Origin of the solar systemSeptember 9
Formation of the EarthSeptember 14
Origin of life on Earth~ September 25
Formation of the oldest rocks known on EarthOctober 2
Date of oldest fossils (bacteria and blue-green algae)October 9
Invention of sex (by microorganisms)~ November 1
Oldest fossil photosynthetic plantsNovember 12
Eukaryotes (first cells with nuclei) flourishNovember 15
December
SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
1Significant oxygen atmosphere begins to develop on Earth.
2345Extensive vulcanism and channel formation on Mars.
6
7
8910111213
14
1516First Worms.
17Precambrian ends. Paleozoic Era and Cambrian Period begin. Invertebrates flourish.
18First oceanic plankton. Trilobites flourish.
19Ordovician Period. First fish, first vertebrates.
20Silurian Period. First vascular plants. Plants begin colonization of land.
21Devonian Period begins. First insects. Animals begin colonization of land.
22First amphibians. First winged insects.
23Carboniferous Period. First trees. First reptiles.
24Permian Period begins. First dinosaurs.
25Paleozoic Era ends. Mesozoic Era Begins.
26Triassic Period. First mammals.
27Jurassic Period. First birds.
28Cretaceous Period. First flowers. Dinosaurs become extinct.
29Mesozoic Era ends. Cenozoic Era and Tertiary Period begin. First cetaceans. First primates.
30First evolution of frontal lobes in the brains of primates. First hominids. Giant mammals flourish.
31End of Pliocene Period. Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene) Period. First humans.
December 31
Origin of Proconsul and Ramapithecus, probable ancestors of apes and men~ 1:30 p.m.
First humans~ 10:30 p.m.
Widespread use of stone tools11:00 p.m.
Domestication of fire by Peking man11:46 p.m.
Beginning of most recent glacial period11:56 p.m.
Seafarers settle Australia11:58 p.m.
Extensive cave painting in Europe11:59 p.m.
Invention of agriculture11:59:20 p.m.
Neolithic civilization; first cities11:59:35 p.m.
First dynasties in Sumer, Ebla and Egypt; development of astronomy11:59:50 p.m.
Invention of the alphabet; Akkadian Empire11:59:51 p.m.
Hammurabic legal codes in Babylon; Middle Kingdom in Egypt11:59:52 p.m.
Bronze metallurgy; Mycenaean culture; Trojan War; Olmec culture; invention of the compass11:59:53 p.m.
Iron metallurgy; First Assyrian Empire; Kingdom of Israel; founding of Carthage by Phoenicia11:59:54 p.m.
Asokan India; Ch'in Dynasty China; Periclean Athens; birth of Buddha11:59:55 p.m.
Euclidean geometry; Archimedean physics; Ptolemaic astronomy; Roman Empire; birth of Christ11:59:56 p.m.
Zero and decimals invented in Indian arithmetic; Rome falls; Birth of Islam and the Islamic Civilization11:59:57 p.m.
Mayan civilization; Sung Dynasty China; Byzantine empire; Mongol invasion; Crusades11:59:58 p.m.
Renaissance in Europe; voyages of discovery from Europe and from Ming Dynasty China; emergence of the experimental method in science11:59:59 p.m.
Widespread development of science and technology; emergence of global culture; acquisition of the means of self-destruction of the human species; first steps in spacecraft planetary exploration and the search of extraterrestrial intelligenceNow: The first second of New Year's Day
Within the scheme of the Cosmic Calendar, an average human life of 70-80 years is equivalent to approximately 0.16 cosmic seconds!
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/BB-slide.htm
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