Learn / Outward from here
The universe
On the scale of light: light 13.8 billion years old. 8 lessons, in the order to read them.
Start hereThe expanding universeDistant galaxies are all moving away from us, and from each other. Run the film backwards and you arrive at a hot, dense beginning 13.8 billion years ago.First look · How it works · The frontier
The first minutes and the oldest lightIn its first few minutes the universe made its hydrogen and helium. After 380,000 years it turned clear, and the light set free then is still arriving.First look · How it works · The physics
Dark matter and dark energyEverything we can see adds up to about 5 per cent of the universe. The rest is known only by what it does, and nobody knows what it is.First look · How it works · The frontier
The oldest lightA faint glow of microwaves comes from every direction in the sky. It is the light of the young universe, and its pattern holds the age and make-up of everything.First look · How it works- How we know there was a Big BangNobody watched the universe begin. Four separate lines of evidence, found in different ways by different people, all point to the same hot, dense start.First look · How it works
The history of the universe on one timeline13.8 billion years, from the first light to this evening, squeezed into a single calendar year so that the gaps between events can be felt.First look · How it works
How it all endsThe Sun will die, the galaxies will run out of gas, and the last stars will go out. What happens after that depends on something nobody yet understands.First look · How it works- How big is the universe?There is an edge to what can be seen, 46 billion light years away in every direction. It is not the edge of the universe, and nobody knows how far the rest goes.First look · How it works
Outline Still to be written here
- The shape of the universeWhether space is flat or curved, and how that is measured.