The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
"Bluish-green and big, about 63 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.
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.2 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. (Indeed, there is disagreement as to which pole should be considered north, and which one south!).
This situation is impossible, according to evolutionary ideas about the formation of the solar system, namely that the planets condensed from a rotating nebula.
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.
Q: What then is the evolutionists’ solution?
A: 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. Indeed, “Models for the development of the solar system cannot produce such an orientation without invoking a collision with another object.”
Q: How feasible is this explanation?
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.jpg)
Venus, Earth and Neptune have orbits that are more circular). A collision would have more likely resulted in a more elliptical orbit. Also, Uranus’s orbit lies more closely within the ecliptic plane than any other planet except Earth. A massive collision should have disturbed the planet’s orbit more than this.
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.
Finally, this idea of a catastrophic impact implies more than a little hypocrisy among the evolutionists. Christians are mocked by evolutionists for accepting the Biblical account of a global Flood (an event for which there is abundant physical evidence), because it was a one-time catastrophe. We are told that such catastrophes are unrepeatable, and are therefore ‘unscientific’. Yet here we see that evolutionists are allowed to invoke one-off planetary catastrophes with impunity, to overcome problems within their belief system." CMI
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
.jpg)
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.
Finally, this idea of a catastrophic impact implies more than a little hypocrisy among the evolutionists. Christians are mocked by evolutionists for accepting the Biblical account of a global Flood (an event for which there is abundant physical evidence), because it was a one-time catastrophe. We are told that such catastrophes are unrepeatable, and are therefore ‘unscientific’. Yet here we see that evolutionists are allowed to invoke one-off planetary catastrophes with impunity, to overcome problems within their belief system." CMI