"Bluish-green and big, about 64 times the size of Earth, Uranus is the seventh from the Sun of the nine known planets in our solar system. Unusual in many ways, Uranus and its moons pose big problems for evolutionary theories of planet formation, and can be seen as an exciting testament to the Creator.
By 1948, it was known that Uranus had at least five moons, but their orbits were not at all what had been expected. The moons’ orbits were discovered to be perpendicular to the ‘ecliptic’ (the plane in which most of the planets orbit the Sun). This meant that either the moons were orbiting Uranus around its poles instead of its equator, or else the rotational axis of Uranus itself was inclined way over compared to the other planets. The latter turned out to be the case. Uranus’s equator is at 98 degrees to the ecliptic. Instead of spinning like a top as it orbits the Sun, as the other planets do, Uranus rolls along on its side. Thus, for part of its orbit, the ‘north’ pole of Uranus faces the Sun, while the ‘south’ pole faces the Sun during a different portion of the orbit.
*This situation is impossible, according to evolutionary ideas about the formation of the solar system, namely that the planets condensed from a rotating nebula. Uranus cannot have formed this way naturally. What then is the evolutionists’ solution? Most of them believe that Uranus did actually form the ‘correct’ way, i.e. as according to evolution, but then was subsequently knocked over during a collision with another planet, supposedly the size of the Earth.
First of all, Uranus’s orbit shows no sign of such a catastrophic collision. Its orbit is one of the most circular of all the planets (only Venus, Earth and Neptune have orbits that are more circular). A collision would have more likely resulted in a more elliptical orbit.
Furthermore, the moons of Uranus pose many problems all by themselves. Today, they are orbiting around the planet’s equator, which is approximately at a right angle to the ecliptic. Obviously, these moons could not have been present when the supposed Earth-size object hit Uranus, because the moons would have been scattered or disrupted, and would not have quietly moved into stable orbits that are now inclined 98 degrees away from their previous orbits.
*As one of the four ‘gas giant’ planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), Uranus poses yet another problem for naturalism. The other three gas giants all generate energy (i.e. they radiate considerably more heat into space than they receive from the Sun). Uranus is alone in failing to do this. How can this be? If naturalistic processes formed the solar system, without a Creator, then the products of these processes should be very similar. In particular, Uranus and Neptune are very similar in size, atmospheric composition, rotation rate and location in the solar system. One would then expect that they would be similar in other major characteristics as well—but Neptune radiates into space more than twice the energy it receives, while it is disputed whether or not Uranus radiates any excess energy at all.
*The strength of the magnetic field was also a surprise to evolutionists, though not to creationists, as creationist physicist Dr Russell Humphreys, using Biblical assumptions, had accurately predicted the strength two years previously!
In today’s scientific age, one is often asked how it is possible to be a Christian in light of ‘all that science has discovered’. We see that just the opposite is true—the more we learn, the more we see that indeed, the heavens (along with all the rest of the creation) do indeed declare the glory of God."
CMI
*This situation is impossible, according to evolutionary ideas about the formation of the solar system, namely that the planets condensed from a rotating nebula. Uranus cannot have formed this way naturally. What then is the evolutionists’ solution? Most of them believe that Uranus did actually form the ‘correct’ way, i.e. as according to evolution, but then was subsequently knocked over during a collision with another planet, supposedly the size of the Earth.
First of all, Uranus’s orbit shows no sign of such a catastrophic collision. Its orbit is one of the most circular of all the planets (only Venus, Earth and Neptune have orbits that are more circular). A collision would have more likely resulted in a more elliptical orbit.
Furthermore, the moons of Uranus pose many problems all by themselves. Today, they are orbiting around the planet’s equator, which is approximately at a right angle to the ecliptic. Obviously, these moons could not have been present when the supposed Earth-size object hit Uranus, because the moons would have been scattered or disrupted, and would not have quietly moved into stable orbits that are now inclined 98 degrees away from their previous orbits.
*As one of the four ‘gas giant’ planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), Uranus poses yet another problem for naturalism. The other three gas giants all generate energy (i.e. they radiate considerably more heat into space than they receive from the Sun). Uranus is alone in failing to do this. How can this be? If naturalistic processes formed the solar system, without a Creator, then the products of these processes should be very similar. In particular, Uranus and Neptune are very similar in size, atmospheric composition, rotation rate and location in the solar system. One would then expect that they would be similar in other major characteristics as well—but Neptune radiates into space more than twice the energy it receives, while it is disputed whether or not Uranus radiates any excess energy at all.
*The strength of the magnetic field was also a surprise to evolutionists, though not to creationists, as creationist physicist Dr Russell Humphreys, using Biblical assumptions, had accurately predicted the strength two years previously!
In today’s scientific age, one is often asked how it is possible to be a Christian in light of ‘all that science has discovered’. We see that just the opposite is true—the more we learn, the more we see that indeed, the heavens (along with all the rest of the creation) do indeed declare the glory of God."
CMI
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Psalm 19:1 NIV
