Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Universe's first winter was snowy

Nature (2002)Cite this article

Hydrogen flakes dusted cosmos before there were stars or planets.

There was snow during the Universe's first winter, say two physicists in Switzerland. Fleeting flakes, not of ice but hydrogen, may have filled the cosmos, in silence and total darkness.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Pfenniger, D. & Puy, D. Possible flakes of molecular hydrogen in the early Universe. Preprint, (2002).

Download references

Authors
  1. Philip Ball
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ball, P. Universe's first winter was snowy. Nature (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/news021118-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news021118-8

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing