Starlight problem
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The Starlight problem or Distant Starlight problem is an objection frequently proposed to Young Earth creationists, who maintain that the total age of the universe is only 6,000–12,000 years. If this age is correct, it should not be possible to see light coming from stars and galaxies that are millions or even billions of light-years distant. For example, one of the most distant galaxies ever discovered, Abell 1835 IR1916, is measured to be 13.23 billion light-years away from us. This implies that the universe is at least 13.23 billion years old, otherwise the light from this galaxy would not have been able to reach us yet (see particle horizon). This is a fundamental impetus for many creationists who have created their own creationist cosmologies to counter mainstream models.
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[edit] In-transit creation
One possible explanation for seeing galaxies that are billions of light-years away is that God created the light "in-transit", so that people can enjoy seeing and discovering the distant wonders of the universe at the present time. This "aged-earth" line of reasoning suggests that, while created relatively recently, the universe has "apparent age". This is part of a broader sweep of arguments used by some creationists, known as the Omphalos hypothesis, and has parallels with views about the creation of Adam and Eve. Had they been created as newborns or children, it is less likely that they would have survived, so it is suggested that they were created as fully-formed adults (or at least teenagers). This latter argument was famously articulated by Philip Gosse in his 1857 book Omphalos.
The central problem with the "in-transit" idea is that, if it is true, then events that astronomers are now observing and interpreting as having happened at vast distances away from us never actually happened. For example, in 1987 astronomers observed a supernova (an exploding star) approximately 170,000 light-years away from the earth (SN 1987A). As well as the visible light from this explosion, they also observed gamma and x-rays as predicted by theory, all strongly indicative that they were observing an actual event.
However, if the universe is only 6,000–12,000 years old, what the astronomers observed did not actually happen as the data suggested. Instead, it would imply that all of the radiation from this "event" was carefully arranged in space approximately 10,000 light-years away from the Earth, such that when the Earth reached 1987, this radiation would reach it and give the impression of a supernova event which never actually happened.
Consequently, the in-transit theory is often rejected for theological reasons, as it suggests that God has created a "false history" of events that never took place.
Another counterargument constructs a reductio ad absurdum; if the universe was created with a false history, it becomes difficult to claim that it took place at any particular time. For instance, the universe could have been created one second ago, and the only reason you have any memory of reading the sentences above is that the memory of reading them was created along with the universe in order to give it the illusion of history. It could have been created when you reached this sentence as well. Although there is no strong reason to dismiss the Omphalos argument based on this line of reasoning, it nevertheless leads to an unpleasant "slippery slope".
[edit] c-decay
In the latter part of the twentieth century, it was suggested by creationist Barry Setterfield that the speed of light was changing, and was much higher ten thousand years ago than it is currently. This would enable light from very distant galaxies to reach Earth in the few thousand years available.
Experiments over the last 300 years or so indicated that the speed of light has remained constant during that time period, as far as scientists can tell, taking into account that methods of measuring the speed of light in the past were not as accurate as they are today. It has been pointed out by some skeptics that a decreasing speed of light would actually place Supernova 1987A even further back in time, and so this would not imply a young universe.[1] This idea has also fallen out of favor, as measurements of the speed of light have been made accurately enough to show that there has been no noticeable variation over the time that it has been measurable. As more distant objects have been discovered, the change over time required also becomes higher.
This idea is independent of the variable speed of light found in present models of the earliest moments of the Big Bang, though various creationists, including Setterfield, have exploited the explanation as a confirmation of their own ideas (despite the fact that the speed of light has remained constant to at least one part in 1010 over the last 13 billion years according to observations of distant quasars). Other creationists have warned against reading too much into such claims.[2]
Answers in Genesis (AiG), a leading creationist organization, says that this theory has a number of problems that have not been satisfactorily answered. AiG currently prefers Dr. Russell Humphreys’ explanation for distant starlight.[3]
[edit] Starlight and Time
Russell Humphreys, a young Earth creationist and a nuclear physicist, wrote a book called Starlight and Time: Solving the Puzzle of Distant Starlight in a Young Universe, which attempts to explain the starlight problem to the lay person along with his ideas of how a young earth and universe can fit in with the distant starlight problem.
Dr. Humphreys claims that the "deep" of Genesis 1, verse 2, started within a black hole. This was due to the size of the deep (containing the matter of the universe) and the gravitational force that it would exert. God then, by his divine power and direct intervention, stretched out space causing the ball of matter to expand rapidly thus changing the black hole to a white hole. There are numerous biblical references to God stretching out the heavens (e.g. Jeremiah 10:12, Job 9:8, Zechariah 12:1). As God stretches out the heavens, the ball of matter expands and the matter becomes less dense. The "waters above the expanse" eventually reach and pass beyond the event horizon which now shrinks due to the reduction of matter within it. On day four God creates the stars and all the heavenly bodies and the event horizon finally reaches Earth so that, suddenly, from the perspective of Earth, all the heavens are visible. When Adam and Eve gaze up on day six, they can see the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, and all the wonders of the heavens.
As with other creationist cosmologies, the scientific community does not accept Humphrey's ideas. Humphreys wrote New Vistas of Spacetime Rebut the Critics to answer some of his critics, who include Old Earth creationists such as Hugh Ross and Samuel R. Conner, the authors of The Unraveling of Starlight and Time. Answers in Genesis, a leading proponent of Young Earth Creationism, says that neither they, nor Humphreys, claims that this model is infallible.
[edit] Tu Quoque
Answers in Genesis and Creation Ministries International argues that creationists should not merely defend but counterattack, by pointing out that the traditional big bang model also has problems with light travel time, known as the horizon problem [4], [5]. To address these issues with the big bang, astronomers have proposed cosmic inflation as a possible solution to the horizon problem. Further, and somewhat ironically, some have suggested that light speed itself may have been much faster immediately after the big bang. So far, the theory of cosmic inflation is in very good agreement with current astronomical observations by WMAP.
[edit] See also
- Creationism
- Creationist cosmologies
- c-decay
- Old Earth creationism
- Young Earth creationism
- Naturalism
- Natural science
[edit] References
- The current state of creation astronomy - [6]
- Answers in Genesis.org - [7]
- Christian Answers.net - [8]
- CNN Science & Space - [9]
- Harvard University Gazette, September 18, 2003 - [10]
- How can we see distant stars in a young universe? - [11]
- Light-speed and the early cosmos - [12]
- Molecular Expressions, Optical Microscopy Primer, Physics of Light and Color, Speed of Light - [13]
- NASA APOD - [14]
- New York Times, February 18, 1999
- Recent Lightspeed Publicity - [15]
- Show Me God: What the Message from Space Is Telling Us About God - Fred Heeren, October 1995, pg. 159 ISBN 1-885849-51-6
- Trowel & Sword, Is distant starlight a problem for creationists? - Richard Geluk, used by permission
- The Distant Starlight Problem for Young-age Creation Models, Tom Henderson, July 1999.[16]
- The Unraveling of Starlight and Time, Samuel R. Conner and Hugh Ross Ph.D., March 1999. [17]
- Sun Site - [18]
