In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood

This is the online edition of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood
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[ The Scientific Case for Creation > Astronomical and Physical Sciences > The Universe, the Solar System, the Earth, and Life Were Recently Created. > Most Scientific Dating Techniques Indicate That the Earth, Solar System, and Universe Are Young. > Supernova Remnants]

90. Supernova Remnants

In galaxies similar to our Milky Way Galaxy, a star will explode violently every 26 years or so.^a These explosions, called supernovas, produce gas and dust that expand outward thousands of miles per second. With radio telescopes, these remnants in our galaxy should be visible for a million years. However, only about 7,000 years’ worth of supernova debris are seen.^b So, the Milky Way looks young.

Figure 34: The Crab Nebula. In A.D. 1054, Chinese observers (and perhaps Anasazi Indians of New Mexico and Arizona) witnessed and described a supernova. It was visible in daylight for 23 days and was about as bright at its peak as a full moon. Today, the debris (or remnants) from that explosion comprise the Crab Nebula.

Thanks to radio telescopes, most of these remnants should be visible for a million years. At the rate supernovas are occurring in galaxies like ours, we have only about 7,000 years’ worth of remnants.