Download Session 4 – Nebular Theory

Session 44 –– The Nebular
Session
Nebular Theory
Theory
In the past few sessions we looked at the
Big Bang theory and how it tries to explain
the universe as a whole
Today we will look on a smaller scale of our
solar system, and how the Big Bang theory
explains (or doesn’t explain) the formation
of the solar system
The nebular theory
The nebular theory is
a naturalistic way to
explain the formation
of solar systems
The theory states the sun (star) forms from a
gas cloud, and the remaining debris of this
circulating gas cloud create planets/moons
(that maintain this rotational motion (planets
orbit) around the star
The Sun
The sun
contains 99.8%
of the mass in
our solar
system (a lot)
It is powered by
nuclear fusion
(and is not
shrinking)
Like the planets, the sun rotates on it’s
axis, and has a magnetic field
The sun has presented a problem to the
nebular theory when we look at the angular
momentum that it posses
The sun only has 2% of the angular
momentum in the solar system. If the solar
system was formed by the mechanisms that
the nebular theory claims, the sun should
have much more angular momentum
“Our sun spins very slowly, while the planets
move very rapidly around the sun. In fact,
although the sun has over 99 percent of the
mass of the solar system, it has only 2 percent
of the angular momentum. This pattern is
directly opposite to the pattern predicted by
the nebular hypothesis. Evolutionists have tried
to solve this problem, but a well-known solar
system scientist, Dr. Stuart Ross Taylor, has said
in a recent book, “The ultimate origin of the
solar system’s angular momentum remains
obscure.” Dr. Jonathan Sarfati
Mercury
The closest planet to
the sun is where we
will (naturally begin)
The stripe you see in
the image is not part
of the planet, but
instead a place we
don’t have pictures
The problematic feature
for the nebular theory on
Mercury is the huge iron
core. The core composes
around 70% of the
planets mass which is
hard for the nebular
theory to explain
What is the explanation
for this feature?
Venus
- Hottest planet in our
solar system (900
Degrees F)
Pressure of 90
atmospheres
Hard to study the surface because of these
extreme temperatures
Problem: Venus spins backwards
Conservation of angular momentum
The solution?
According to the
theory Venus was
originally rotating
the correct way,
until an asteroid
(big one) collided
with it and
turned it around
Keep in mind, there is
no evidence for this
(except they can’t
explain it)
Problems
- Venus has the most
circular orbit of all the
planets in our solar system
- Venus has the least axial tilt of any of the
planets in our solar system
If such a catastrophic event had taken place,
you would not expect this to be the
case on for Venus
Mars
- Largest volcano in the
solar system
- Violent Dust storms
covering much of the planet
The most interesting
features are huge
canyons that show
signs of being
formed by water
Some of these
canyons
formed by
erosion are
bigger than the
continental
united states
There is evidence there used to be water on
mars (but the atmosphere is too hot for
it to exist today)
How do they explain this?
One theory is Mar’s
used to have a thick
atmosphere that made
temperatures more
stable, and under that
atmosphere water was
able to exist just fine
Until something came along and stripped
mars of the atmosphere
Jupiter is the next planet
on our list
It has some interesting
features (such as the red
spot which is a huge storm)
Problem for the nebular theory: Jupiter
rotates much faster than it should be
You would expect small planets like earth to
rotate faster than HUGE planets like Jupiter
Jupiter rotates every 10 hours
“We came to the conclusion,’ says Lissauer,
‘that if you accrete planets from a uniform
disk of planetesimals, [the
observed] prograde (Expect direction)
rotation just can’t be explained.’ The
simulated bombardment leaves a growing
planet spinning once a week at most, not
once a day.” ( Richard A. Kerr, “Theoreticians Are Putting a New
Spin on the Planets,” Science, Vol. 258, 23 October 1992, p. 548)
Two moons of
Jupiter right next
door to each other
(Europa and
Collisto) make things
interesting for the
nebular theory
Collisto is the most heavily cratered body in
our solar system. Why is that interesting?
Europa is the
smoothest body in
our solar system
They are both
Galilean moons of
Jupiter and are
right next door to
each other… They
should have
similar history of
comets/asteroids
Because of this
discovery people have
concluded that Europa
has liquid water
beneath it causing this
(and possibly aliens)
Saturn
Saturn is an
interesting planet
that if you had a big
enough bathtub
would actually float
Saturn’s rings show evidence of being
young, but we discuss that in more
detail in other classes
Uranus
The confusion that Uranus
brings to the nebular theory
is the angle at which it
rotates around the sun
Most planet rotate like a
spinning topic (on the
galactic plain) while Uranus
rolls (almost like a wheel)
around the run
Miranda
“Scientists believe that Miranda may have
been shattered as many as five times during
its evolution. After each shattering the
moon would have reassembled from the
remains of its former self with portions of
the core exposed and portions of the
surface buried. Miranda's appearance can
be explained by theories, but the real
reason is still unknown” - NASA
Neptune is the next
planet on our list (and
the last planet by
today’s standard
It is one of the most
beautiful looking
planets in the solar
system, but is often
over looked
Neptune has 14
moons and has rings
(like Saturn) that are
hard to see
Problems with both Uranus and Neptune
“Pssst… astronomers who model the formation
of the solar system have kept a dirty little secret:
Uranus and Neptune don’t exist. Or at least
computer simulations have never explained how
planets as big as the two gas giants could form
so far from the Sun. Bodies orbited so slowly in
the outer parts of the sun’s protoplanetary disk
that the slow process of gravitational accretion
would need more time than the age of the solar
system to form bodies with 14.5 and 17.1 times
the mass of Earth” (Astronomy, April 20, 2000)
“What is clear is that simple banging together
of planetesimals to construct planets takes
too long in this remote outer part of the solar
system. The time needed exceeds the age of
the solar system. We see Uranus and
Neptune, but the modest requirement that
these planets exist has not been
met by this model” (Nebular theory
model) 10,000,000,000 years needed”
Creation magazine, Spike Psarris, 2002
Next on the list (or old list)
Just a few interesting things about Pluto
The formation of the moon
There have been a few theories to
explain how the moon formed
The Fission Theory
There are several problems with this
theory (recognized by creation and
non creationists)
”The fission theory… While the moon was
moving outward from the earth, gravity
would have pulverized it into Saturn type
rings. Fourth, moon rocks are somewhat
different from the equivalent material on
earth.” (they shouldn’t be by this theory)
Don DeYoung, Iowa State University (Ph.D., Physics)
Another problem with this theory has to do
with earths rotation
Earth would have to rotate on its axis every
four hours for there to be enough
momentum for this theory to happen (part
of the earth fly off to become the moon)
How then did the earth slow down? Tidal
friction is the only way, and if that were it
the energy release would raise the
temperature to 1000 degrees Celsius
The Capture Theory
This theory says the
moon formed
elsewhere in our
solar system and
eventually the earth
captured it by gravity
and has held on to it
every since
It turns out that’s
not really possible,
and most reject this
theory now
Nebular Theory
This theory says the
moon and planet earth
both formed in the
same area from the
same dust cloud left
over from the
formation of the sun
There are two
objections here
First they should be a lot more similar if
formed together, second accretion is debated
This has caused a new theory to give rise
The idea here is an asteroid his planet earth
and causes matter from the asteroid and
planet earth to fly into space and gradually
condense into the moon
The question comes up again if dust
particles (and larger rocks) can collide and
build like the theory says, especially with
the earth right next door
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:16“And God made two great
lights; the greater light to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule the night: he made
the stars also.”