The Distant Starlight Issue

Problem Some stars are millions of light-years away. Since a light-year is the distance traveled by light in one year, does this mean that the universe is very old? More importantly, doesn’t this refute the Young Earth theory?

Created Light Most commonly used explanation is that God created light ‘on its way’ Adam would see the stars immediately without having to wait for even the closest ones to illuminate the Earth Adam was created mature, why couldn’t starlight be created en route? While we should not limit the power of God, this theory is flawed

Created Light (Problems) Created Light implies that in observing distant objects we see things that have never happened at all All the light we receive of far away stars did not actually come from the stars, but from created light

Created Light (Problems) This would mean that for a 10,000-year-old universe, that anything we see happening beyond about 10,000 light-years away is actually part of a gigantic picture show of things that have not actually happened, showing us objects which may not even exist.

Created Light (Problems) Deception is against God’s nature Created light is a form of deception God would not have used Created Light to produce fake images of stars In Supernovas, we not only receive light, but streams of Neutrinos, X- Rays, Gamma Rays, and other things indicating a real event

Assumptions of Light Travel Arguments Any attempt to scientifically estimate age will be based on assumptions Sometimes, incorrect worldviews are to blame when people make faulty assumptions Distant Starlight involves several questionable assumptions, any one of which makes the argument unsound

Back to Basic Physics Velocity = Distance/Time Time = Distance/Velocity t = d / c –c is the constant for the speed of light –d is the distance of the star –t is the time it takes for that light to get here

Assumption 1: Constant of c In Physics, c tends to represent the speed of light Over the past 300 years, calculations for value of c have been decreasing, suggesting to some scientists that c was significantly higher at one point Obvious solution Known as c-decay; or cdk theory

Assumption 1: Constant of c Would affect Radiometric Dating, Red- Shift from distant galaxies Not scientifically defendable theory Connectivity of Natural Constants –God’s creation was originally perfect –The universal constants are perfect –Altering one constant alters others, making life therefore impossible

Assumption 2: Values of d are accurate Some Creationists support the theory that science is wrong in calculating how far away galaxies and stars are Big error: places Creation vs. Science Galactic distances calculated using observational science, which is repeatable, not historical science

Assumption 2: Values of d are accurate Scientific methods tend to be accurate Many billions of stars exist. Such numbers of stars have to be distributed through a huge volume of space, otherwise we would all be fried. Vastness of the universe gives glory to God

Time = Distance Velocity

Assumption 3: The Rigidity of Time, t Many people assume that time flows at the same rate in all conditions Seems logical and reasonable False assumption, due to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity –The Rate at which time passes is affect by motion and by gravity

Time Dilation If an object moves very fast, close to the speed of light, time is slowed down Clocks moving near speed of light seem to tick slowly from an observer At the speed of light, the clock would cease to tick at all There is nothing wrong with the clock, only that time appears slowed down from our external perspective

Time Dilation Additionally, time is affected by gravity Clocks on high mountains tend to tick faster than clocks at sea-level, since the sea-level places clocks closer to source of gravity These Dilations are not observable on Earth because: –We can not get anywhere near c –Our planet’s gravity is too weak

Time Dilation Uniformitarianists state that things happen now as they have a while ago These people fail to acknowledge that the negligible dilations on Earth are observable in Outer Space This is Assumption #3: Time remains constant under all circumstances

Amending Assumption #3: Alternate Cosmology Big-Bang Theorists believe that the universe is endlessly large and without a definable center In an post-Big-Bang universe, every galaxy would be surrounded by galaxies spread evenly in all directions Therefore, all the net gravitational forces cancel out. Science today shows that the universe is expanding Infinite space cannot expand

Amending Assumption #3: Alternate Cosmology Dr. Russell Humphreys came up with an alternate cosmology for universe Universe has a definable center and definable boundaries Universe has a net gravitational force pulling toward its center Objects within the range of center would be in an unobservable gravity well Earth is in the immediate area of center of Universe, earth is in gravity well

Amending Assumption #3: Alternate Cosmology Clocks at edge of universe tick faster than clocks near the center At the center, clocks appear stopped in comparison to the rest of the universe At the center, everything feels normal While nearly no time passes at the center, significant time can pass elsewhere in the universe, allowing light to reach the Earth

Amending Assumption #3: Alternate Cosmology The expansion of the universe would make such effects much more negligible today than they were in the time of the creation While there are still mathematical details to be worked out, creation scientists are researching this now

Assumption #4: Synchronization of Time Synchronized clocks do not appear to be synchronized A plane leaves at 4:00 local time, travels 2 time zones to the west, and lands at 4:00 local time Plane has traveled 2 hours of Universal Time Plane has land instantly in local time

Assumption #4: Synchronization of Time Light traveling toward Earth has similar effect, like the plane traveling west Light traveling toward Earth passes time through Cosmic Universal Time For us, in our Cosmic Local Time no time seems to have passed from when it left and when it got here 100 Years to travel 100 Light years is Cosmic Universal Time

Assumption #4: Synchronization of Time Stars created on Day 4, in their Cosmic Local Time; stars arrive here in our Cosmic Local Time of Day 4 Some object: Aha, so light travels billions of years of universal time According to Einstein’s relativity, light does not experience passage of time, so the trip would be instantaneous, for the purposes of brief explanation

Assumption #5: Assumption of Naturalism Naturalism is belief that nature is all there is. Creation was a supernatural event If Distant Starlight cannot be proven true by using natural science, that means only one thing: the star’s creation was not a natural event, which is what we believe Thus, the whole distant starlight argument is refutable and pathetic