Today’s New Reason To Believe

by Dr. Jeffrey Zweerink

One central component of RTB’s creation model posits that the universe is designed to support life. Various documents from RTB articulate the growing body of evidence that buttresses this idea. Hugh Ross’s book The Creator and the Cosmos describes a number of features of the universe and Earth that exhibit design while two Web articles give a more expansive list of finely tuned features—one for the universe and one for planet Earth.

Ultimately, all the evidence for design boils down to probability arguments and I discussed how the multiverse impacts probability arguments in a past Multiverse Musings post. To summarize the main point, if the sample size (of universes) grows sufficiently large, the strength of the probability argument diminishes.

The size of the universe depends both on its geometry and its topology. In a past TNRTB, I discussed the latest results for the geometry of the universe. Most cosmologists assume a simple topology for the universe, but some build models based on more complex topologies. For example, one model argues that the universe assumes the topology of a Poincare dodecahedral space. If the universe exhibited such a topology, WMAP data (which “maps out” the universe by measuring tiny variations in its microwave background radiation) indicates that the size of the universe is actually smaller than the observable universe! Another paper argues that this more complex topology matches the WMAP data better than simpler topologies—especially at the low multipole values.

These models do not prove that we live in a small (by multiverse standards) universe. Rather, this research highlights that the size and shape of the universe remain open questions that the next generation of cosmic microwave background experiments will address. RTB anticipates the new data from these investigations and fully expects it to provide further evidence that we live in a universe designed to support life.

by Dr. Jeffrey Zweerink

NASA scientists recently published a stunning reproduction of the Milky Way Galaxy using data taken with the Spitzer telescope. As seen in the image below, two large spiral arms emanate from a central bar and encompass a number of smaller arms and substructure.

The fact that the Sun resides in a spiral galaxy instead of the more common elliptical galaxies highlights a number of design characteristics essential to life.

First, stars in elliptical galaxies generally have more radial orbits that frequently take the stars in close to the center of the galaxy. The density of stars in galactic centers causes large gravitational disturbances to any putative planetary system around such stars. In contrast, spiral galaxy stars exhibit more circular orbits that significantly decrease the possibility of gravitational disturbances from other stars.

Second, the spiral structures reflect regions of higher density stars and the region between the spiral structures exhibits a lower density. The Sun’s orbit in the Milky Way minimizes the number of passages through the spiral arms which, in turn, minimizes the chance for gravitational disruption of the planetary orbits.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, the existence of the spiral arm structure goes hand-in-hand with ongoing star formation. However, for a galaxy to continue forming new stars for more than ten billion years, it must continually receive new supplies of gas to replenish the gas used up by previous stars.

A paper published in the Astrophysical Journal found evidence that shows where the Milky Way received its supply of fresh gas. Using a detailed study of the stars in the halo around the Milky Way, a team of astronomers discovered that the halo exhibits a high degree of “clumpiness.” This clumpiness provides strong evidence that the Milky Way absorbed a large number of smaller dwarf galaxies during its history. The dynamics of these collisions would transfer the gas from the dwarf galaxies into the disk of the Milky Way, providing fuel for more star formation. In fact, it appears that such a process is occurring now in a location called the Virgo Stellar Stream.

Evidence consistent with the idea that Earth was designed to support life continues to mount. Not only does Earth orbit the right distance from a just-right star, it also resides in a just-right galaxy that collides with enough dwarf galaxies to continually form new stars and maintain its spiral structure. But, the collisions are not so frequent that they disrupt the planets orbiting around the sun.

by Dr. Jeffrey Zweerink

Part of my attraction to gamma-ray astronomy relates to the types of objects it observes. My graduate research focused on an object called Markarian 421. It is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) located about 360 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. A massive black hole—in excess of a million times the mass of the sun—provides the engine generating the gamma rays in this object. As shown in the image below, a disk of material (known as an accretion disk) surrounds and feeds the black hole, giving rise to long jets emanating along the axis of the disk.

Astronomers used optical observations of another similar object, named OJ 287, to provide an important test of Einstein’s theory of general relativity (GR). At 18 billion solar masses, the black hole in the center of OJ 287 ranks as the most massive black hole known in the universe! Since 1983, a series of optical outbursts has allowed astronomers to determine that another, smaller black hole orbits OJ 287 and crosses the accretion disk surrounding OJ 287. An optical outburst or flash occurs each time the smaller black hole crosses the accretion disk.

With enough outbursts detected, astronomers calculated when the next outburst would occur. According to GR, the strong gravitational fields from the two black holes affect the timing of the pulses in two ways. First, the location of the closest approach of the smaller black hole moves around the larger black hole with each orbit; Mercury demonstrates this effect also. The fact that general relativity properly described this otherwise anomalous behavior served as one of the first confirmations for GR’s validity. Second, two close-orbiting massive objects emit gravitational radiation, which causes the orbit to shrink.

Scientists expected an outburst from OJ 287 in September 2007. Predictions accounting for the emission of gravity waves placed the outburst twenty days earlier than predictions without gravity wave emission. According to an article in Nature, the observed outburst occurred within one day of the prediction that included gravity waves.

These results buttress Einstein’s theory of general relativity by confirming the existence of black holes—which do not occur in Newtonian gravitational theories—and by accurately accounting for the emission of gravitational waves as predicted by GR. RTB’s cosmic creation model incorporates GR, thus, any confirmation of GR puts RTB’s model on firmer ground.