Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

History of the Universe

History of the Universe
This diagram traces the evolution of the universe from the big bang to the present. Two watershed epochs are shown. Not long after the big bang, light from the first stars burned off a fog of cold hydrogen in a process called reionization. At a later epoch quasars, the black-hole-powered cores of active galaxies, pumped out enough ultraviolet light to reionize the primordial helium.
  • Release Date
    October 7, 2010
  • Science Release
    Hubble Astronomers Uncover an Overheated Early Universe
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

Downloads

  • PDF
    (32.54 MB)
  • 1800 × 3225
    jpg (7.89 MB)
  • 1800 × 3225
    tif (15.99 MB)
  • 1674 × 3000
    jpg (728.14 KB)
  • 200 × 200
    jpg (12.04 KB)
  • 223 × 400
    jpg (22.58 KB)
  • 558 × 1000
    jpg (220.22 KB)
  • 714 × 1280
    jpg (1.12 MB)

Related Images & Videos

Helium Reionization in the Early Universe

Helium Reionization in the Early Universe

This ultraviolet-light data from the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph shows strong helium II absorption and transmission lines from a quasar, identifying an era 11.7 to 11.3 billion years ago when electrons were stripped from primeval helium atoms – a process...

Share

Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble Science Highlights

Hubble Images

Hubble News