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To: longshadow
Actually, that's not quite true.

I apologize, I was engaging in a little hyperbole.
Just trying to make the point that an argument from consensus is flawed.
They all come to the same conclusion because they all use the same model.
But there are huge assumptions underlying the current popular model, most of which still have little support.

Thus I'll bide my time and keep a jaundiced eye on the whole endevor.
For instance the use of a globular cluster to arrive at this data point is fraught with difficulties since the age distribution of stars in globular clusters varies significantly from that of our galaxy.
We have no idea how they form.
Or even why they are where they are.

78 posted on 04/24/2002 8:45:18 PM PDT by Politically Correct
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To: Politically Correct
For instance the use of a globular cluster to arrive at this data point is fraught with difficulties since the age distribution of stars in globular clusters varies significantly from that of our galaxy.

Oh, but the age disparity is precisely what makes this methodology so useful. Globular clusters have the OLDEST stars in the galaxy. They look at the oldest stars in the galaxy, and then looked for the faintest white dwarfs among them (meaning the oldest of the oldest, so to speak).

Thus, the age of the oldest visible white dwarf defines a lower bound for the age of the Universe. To this age (12.7 x 109) they add a billion years, which is the minimum estimate of the length of time it takes for stars to form AFTER the Universe started. Thus the minimum age for the Universe is 13.7 billion years (+/- 0.5 billion) by this method.

87 posted on 04/24/2002 9:01:19 PM PDT by longshadow
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