Earth’s history (The first billion years )

  • 4567 BCE

    Planetary accretion

    Ar this stage, Solar System was a disk of dust and gas in orbit around the proto-Sun. The solid materials collided with each other and accreted to form gradually larger bodies because of gravity. Gradually, Earth and the other three terrestrial planets were formed.
  • 4500 BCE

    Core formation

    The stage where core started to form. Earth's rocky core formed first, with heavy elements colliding and binding together. Dense material sank to the center, while the lighter material created the crust. Gravity captured some of the gases that made up the planet's early atmosphere.
  • 4490 BCE

    Formation of the moon

    Earth suffered a collision by a large Mars-sized planet. The debris of the collision drew together due to the gravity and form the moon, which started orbiting around Earth.
  • 4300 BCE

    Planetary Cooling

    At this stage, the temperature decreased and Earth turned to solid.
  • 3800 BCE

    End of heavy bombardment

    Early Earth suffered a constant threat of attack from leftover planet-building material. From about 4.5 to 3.8 billion years ago, failed planets and smaller asteroids slammed into larger worlds, scarring their surface. After this stage, there was no more heavy bombardment to Earth.