Universe Evolution, Billion Years
A representation of the evolution of the universe over billion years. The far left depicts the earliest moment we can now probe, when a period of "inflation" produced a burst of exponential growth in the universe. (Size is depicted by the vertical extent of the grid in this graphic.) For the next several billion years, the expansion of the universe gradually slowed down as the matter in the universe pulled on itself via gravity. More recently, the expansion has begun to speed up again as the repulsive effects of dark energy have come to dominate the expansion of the universe. The afterglow light seen by WMAP was emitted about 375,000 years after inflation and has traversed the universe largely unimpeded since then. The conditions of earlier times are imprinted on this light; it also forms a backlight for later developments of the universe.
Size: 4140px × 2980px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: , accelerated, afterglow, age, art, artwork, astronomy, bang, big, billion, computer-generated, cosmos, diagram, evolution, expanding, expansion, galaxies, graphic, illustration, inflation, light, pattern, universe, wmap, years
