I saw this over at UniverseToday.
TW-Hydrae-protoplanetary-close-in.jpg
Looks like not only can we watch stars form, we can watch planets form. This image is taken by the ALMA submillimeter array in Chile and shows gaps in a protoplanetary disk around a young star. These are exactly the kinds of gaps which form when a planetary object is 'cleaning up its neighborhood' by accreting new material (e.g. growing larger). The inset shows the inner region about the size of the Earth's orbit - IOW, there are likely planets in there too.
There have been debates in the past on this site with certain YEC's over whether stars form naturally, whether the planets we are finding are 'really' planets, all sorts of silliness. Some of the resistance to these ideas come from a rather silly assumption that God's 7th day rest in Genesis implies God is done making things in the heavens.
So here's another nail in the coffin of the idea "God's 7th day rest in Genesis implies God is done with creation". Planets are forming too - right before our eyes.
And a really cool observation in the relatively new and rapidly expanding set of observational science surround star and planetary system formation.
Jim
TW-Hydrae-protoplanetary-close-in.jpg
Looks like not only can we watch stars form, we can watch planets form. This image is taken by the ALMA submillimeter array in Chile and shows gaps in a protoplanetary disk around a young star. These are exactly the kinds of gaps which form when a planetary object is 'cleaning up its neighborhood' by accreting new material (e.g. growing larger). The inset shows the inner region about the size of the Earth's orbit - IOW, there are likely planets in there too.
There have been debates in the past on this site with certain YEC's over whether stars form naturally, whether the planets we are finding are 'really' planets, all sorts of silliness. Some of the resistance to these ideas come from a rather silly assumption that God's 7th day rest in Genesis implies God is done making things in the heavens.
So here's another nail in the coffin of the idea "God's 7th day rest in Genesis implies God is done with creation". Planets are forming too - right before our eyes.
And a really cool observation in the relatively new and rapidly expanding set of observational science surround star and planetary system formation.
Jim
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