Either the Universe will continue in its present form forever, or it will cease to exist in its present form at some time. Many religions have postulated an end to the Universe: see Eschatology. This article is about scientific theories of the end of the Universe.
Some cosmological theories postulate that the Universe will come to an end after some finite lifespan, or settle down into a state where life as we know it will cease to exist.
However, there need not be a 'last moment', just as there need not be a 'first moment' discontinuity in the Big Bang theory of the creation of the Universe.
Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice[?]" which states "Some say the world will end in fire, / Some say in ice" has often been cited in relation to these theories.
Some mainstream physical theories make the following long-term predictions (see the article 1 E19 s and more):
The following times all assume that the Universe is "open":
1014 years -- the estimated time until low-mass stars cool off
1015 years -- the estimated time until planets detach from stars
1019 years -- the estimated time until stars detach from galaxies
1064 years -- the estimated time until black holes decay by the Hawking process
1065 years -- the estimated time until all matter is liquid at zero temperature
10100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years (101026) -- the estimated time until all matter decays to iron
1010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years (101076) -- the estimated time until all matter collapses into black holes
In 2003, New Scientist magazine reported a preprint by Robert R. Caldwell, Marc Kamionkowski and Nevin N. Weinberg which puts forward the hypothesis that the end of the Universe may possibly occur as a "Big Rip", which will shred the physical structure of the Universe.
