Eight Coincidences ?
Some sample parameters for the support of life are listed in the table below.
Evidence for the design of the Sun-Earth-Moon system:
1. Location of the Earth and Sun within our galaxy’s habitable Zone –
if closer to Galactic center – galactic radiation would be too great; stellar density would disturb planetary orbits
if farther: quantity of heavy elements would be insufficient to make rocky planets.
2. The color of our star (The Sun is somewhat yellow)
if redder : photosynthetic response would be insufficient
if bluer: photosynthetic response would be insufficient
3. Earth’s distance from the Sun
if farther: planet would be too cool for a stable water cycle
if closer: planet would be too warm for a stable water cycle
4. The shape of Earth’s orbit (How close Earth’s orbit is to being a circle)
if not almost circular: seasonal temperature differences would be too extreme.
5. rotation period (The number of hours in one “day”).
if longer: diurnal temperature differences would be too great.
if shorter: atmospheric wind velocities would be too great.
6. The tilt of Earth’s axis (compared to the plane of its orbit)
if greater: surface temperature differences would be too great.
if less: surface temperature differences would be too great.
7. magnetic field
if stronger: electromagnetic storms would be too severe.
if weaker: inadequate protection from Sun’s particle radiation.
8. ozone level in Earth’s atmosphere
if greater: surface temperatures would be too low.
if less: surface temperatures would be too high; there would be too much UV radiation transmitted to the surface.
Each of these parameters cannot exceed certain limits without disturbing a planets’ capacity to support life. For some, the limits have been measured quite precisely. This typically is the case for stellar parameters. For others, the limits are more uncertain, typically for planetary parameters.
To get a feel for how confining these limits can be, the least confining would be parameter #1, which would eliminate 60% of all candidates from contention.
More confining would be parameters such as #4 and #5, each of which, independently, would eliminate about 90% of all candidates from contention. Most confining of all would be parameters such as #3, which eliminates about 99.9% of all candidates from contention.
There are at least 75 of these parameters.
Probability for all 75 parameters to occur in a purely naturalistic universe :
- 1 out of 10 99
Maximum possible number of planets in the Universe if every star has one planet : → 10 22 planets.
Much less than 1 chance in a hundred thousand trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion that even one such planet as ours would exist anywhere in the Universe.
- 1 out of 10 77
…..which is statistically equal to zero.
These parameters are not consistent with the purely naturalistic model often taught or inferred in our public education system.
Much of the above material was compiled by Dr. Hugh Ross in 1998. www.reasons.org