- Series:Astronomy, Transcript English
Genesis 15:5-6
“And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
The word local is a relative term. Living, as I do, in a tiny rural city of just 2,000 inhabitants, I consider the large town ten miles away to be local. In another context, Portland Airport – an hour’s drive away – is also local. In a still different context, perhaps Canada and Mexico are local, compared to England or France.
The Local Void is a vast region of the universe, on the opposite side of the Milky Way Galaxy from where we are, that appears to have few galaxies within it. It is a hole in space. It was discovered in 1987, but it seems to be difficult to explain such a phenomenon with traditional Big Bang cosmology.
One could reasonably expect that a Big Bang would lead to an even distribution of galaxies – though even that statement would not explain why stars are collected in galaxies rather than themselves being evenly distributed. Big Bang theorists hope to explain voids, such as the Local Void, by gravity “herding galaxies into clusters”. Such an explanation can clearly show how an already asymmetric universe could become even more asymmetric, but there is no mechanism for how gravity could preferentially choose among galaxies that were, initially, evenly spread.
As far as I know, creationists also do not have an explanation for voids, though it is not a surprise to us that God should show creativity in the making of the heavens which declare His glory.
Prayer: The psalmist expressed all our thoughts when he declared that “the heavens declare your glory”. We praise You for the wonderful works You have done. Amen.
Author: Paul F. Taylor
Ref: University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Astronomers map vast void in our cosmic neighborhood.” ScienceDaily, 22 July 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190722182136.htm>. Image: Public domain.
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