When the First Stars Formed

When the First Stars Formed

TNRTB Archive – Retained for reference information

European astronomers have produced another confirmation of the biblically predicted hot big bang creation event and another accurate measure of the time back to the cosmic creation event. Independent of the WMAP determinations (see Creation Update, February 18, 2003), they measured the date at which the universe’s first stars must have formed. They noted that the only source of beryllium in interstellar space results from cosmic rays striking the nuclei of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen that are ejected by the supernova eruptions of the universe’s first stars. They then proceeded to carefully measure the quantity of beryllium in the oldest known second-generation stars. That amount of beryllium added up to 300 million years’ worth of production by cosmic rays. Adding 300 million years to the well-determined age for the particular second-generation stars yielded a date for the first stars just 200 million years after the cosmic creation event. This date is consistent with both the WMAP determination and what the hot big bang creation model would predict about the character, the number, and the date of the first-born stars. The team’s measurements also are consistent with the age of the universe determinations from both the WMAP and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, namely 13.7 billion years.