Illustrations and textures
Illustrations
A summary of the almost 14 billion year history of the Universe.
Project for the European Space Agency - Planck mission -
The Planck mission investigated the history, structure and composition of the Universe by obtaining the best picture ever of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the first light emitted in the history of the cosmos, only 380,000 years after the Big Bang. This series of illustrations provides an abstract rendition of the different phases in the 13.8 billion year long evolution of our Universe since the Big Bang, as probed by the Planck mission of the European Space Agency.
Illustration, infographic and motion
Inflation
Accelerated expansion of the Universe during which the seeds
of all cosmic structure arise
The hot big bang era
Light and matter are coupled in the early Universe, while dark matter evolves independently: it starts clumping and forming a web of structures
Dark ages and first stars
After light and matter separate, the first stars and galaxies form in the densest knots of the cosmic web
The present Universe
