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Formation of the Solar System(18th-century copperplate star chart)

AccelerationFour-dimensional view4.57 billion years ago

4.57 billion years ago

Formation of the Solar System

The Sun and planets are born from a molecular cloud; Earth and the Moon form in turn, their primordial surfaces scorching and barren.

Art style · 18th-century copperplate star chart

Origin of Life on EarthDinosaurs and MammalsAI Agents
Arrow keys step through pictures · Wheel to zoom · Drag or click to select time

Civilization metrics

Each sparkline shows the documented history of a metric on a logarithmic time axis. The dot marks the selected moment.

Kardashev index

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No reliable data yet

World population

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No reliable data yet · data begins 12,000 years ago

Total human primary energy power

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No reliable data yet · data begins 12,000 years ago

Compute per dollar

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No reliable data yet · data begins 1945

Fastest delivery time for a message from London to New York

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No reliable data yet · data begins 1620

Fastest speed reached by humans

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No reliable data yet · data begins 302,000 years ago

Near this moment

The eight closest milestones. Select a title to jump there.

  1. 13.7 billion years agoUniverse

    About 100 million years after the Big Bang, the first stars formed and forged heavier elements. Source

  2. 13.6 billion years agoUniverse

    The seeds of the Milky Way appeared about 13.6 billion years ago, giving birth to its oldest stars. Source

  3. 4.57 billion years agoUniverse

    About 4.568 billion years ago, a molecular cloud collapsed into the Sun and the disk of planets around it. Source

  4. 4.54 billion years agoUniverse

    Earth accreted from material in the protoplanetary disk and is about 4.54 billion years old. Source

  5. 4.5 billion years agoUniverse

    The leading hypothesis holds that a Mars-sized body struck the early Earth, and the debris coalesced into the Moon. Source

  6. 3.5 billion years agoLife

    Stromatolites and other fossils show that life on Earth had appeared at least 3.5 billion years ago. Source

  7. 2.4 billion years agoLife

    Photosynthesis by cyanobacteria let free oxygen accumulate in the atmosphere for the first time. Source

  8. 1.7 billion years agoLife

    Complex cells with a nucleus emerged; the earliest likely fossils date to about 1.8 to 1.6 billion years ago. Source

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Scenes across eras

Each era illustrated in its own style.

Every timeline entry cites its source. Metrics interpolate logarithmically between sourced data points. Forecasts include institutional and community views, and attributed site scenarios; years are not guaranteed realization dates. Illustrations are AI-generated in each era's style.