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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

Does he really belive this? It seems so.
40 million years ago the Sun was touching the earth, if its present rate of ‘downsizing’ (shrinking at 2 1/2 miles in radius a year) is figured back in time. Even if the rate is slowed - how long ago was it hot enough on earth to boil everything here?
There must be a limit for the sun and earth like the ‘Roche’ limit established for the moon and earth.


6 posted on 08/13/2009 3:14:42 AM PDT by PastorJimCM (truth matters)
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To: PastorJimCM
You wrote:

"40 million years ago the Sun was touching the earth, if its present rate of ‘downsizing’ (shrinking at 2 1/2 miles in radius a year) is figured back in time."

No, the Sun is not "shrinking 2.5 miles" a year. While the Sun is losing mass as it converts Hydrogen to Helium, that loss of mass is small when compared to the whole. The "shrinkage" that can be measured is a rhythmic "puffing" in and out that all stars undergo, as the big ball of plasma balances thermal outward expansion with gravitational contraction.

You see, gravity wants to collapse the ball of plasma, under its own "weight", as it were. As the plasma is squeezed under gravity, just like any other gas, it heats up, and the addtional pressure allows for MORE fusion to take place, HEATING the plasma even more. When the thermal expansive forces overtake gravity, the star "puffs" back out. The plasma cools some, the pressures are slightly less, and less fusion takes place. Once a tad cooler, the gravitational contraction resumes.

During a star's "main sequence" lifetime, this pulsing in and out is the balancing act it maintains between heat and gravity, until the star runs out of fuel.

In fact, our Sun is a 5% variable star, and not as "constant" as one might think. This "puffing" can be detected in stars other than our own, with the proper equipment.

It is patently dishonest for some people to take JUST ONE PART of some observation, then run it off to some extreme, in an attempt to bolster their position. You could just as easily used the OTHER side of the observation, the "puffing out", and say that in just 40 million years, the Sun would be touching the Earth. It is this tendency of creationists to "cherry pick" the facts they want to present that irritates more scientifically grounded individuals.

I know, I know, you will say that scientists "cherry pick" data, and some certainly do. However, over the course of time, other, more honest researchers refute dishonest researchers in a process known over all as "peer review". "Peer review" is not instantaneous, and might take years, but it DOES happen. That is why we don't talk about "ether" as the medium for light, for example.

Hey, "TRUTH MATTERS".
15 posted on 08/13/2009 5:32:38 AM PDT by Rebel_Ace (Tags?!? Tags?!? We don' neeeed no stinkin' Tags!)
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