Uranus Contradicts Mainstream Naturalistic Models and Confirms Creationists Models
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA
by Owen Borville
Uranus is the seventh planet from our sun, a very cold and windy environment featuring 13 thin rings and 27 small moons. An icy giant having the third largest diameter of all the planets in the solar system, Uranus is four times wider in diameter than planet Earth. The most unusual feature of Uranus is that it rotates at nearly a 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit around the sun. In other words, Uranus rotates around the sun as a rolling ball. Another unique feature of Uranus is that it rotates around the sun from east to west, one of only two planets to do so (the other is Venus), which further complicates mainstream naturalistic models and gives evidence of a unique creation. Planet Uranus has a magnetic field, the strength of which was predicted by the creationist models. Discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel, Uranus was named after the Greek god of the sky and has a light blue color. Uranus was originally thought to be a star because of its far distance from Earth and its slow orbit, but Herschel was the first to recognize it as a planet. Uranus was also the first planet discovered with the aid of a telescope. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the sun and is four times wider than earth. This "ice giant" planet contains a hydrogen and helium-based outer layer with an icy, frozen interior of water, methane, and ammonia making up 80 percent of its mass. In 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 captured detailed images of Uranus that showed a blue sphere with few features, however Uranus does have more than a dozen thin rings orbiting the planet.
The Magnetic Field and Internal Heat of Uranus
Planet Uranus has a magnetic field, the strength of which was predicted by the creationist models of Dr. Russell Humphreys in 1984. Evolutionists previously predicted that the magnetic field of Uranus would be significantly weaker or non-existent using their electrically-generated dynamo models of sustained magnetic fields over millions of years. In 1986, however, the Voyager 2 spacecraft passed by Uranus and confirmed that the magnetic field strength was within Humphrey's prediction. The evolutionists describe a magnetic field for Uranus using the dynamo model, but the existence of the field is difficult to explain considering the little internal heat that Uranus produces compared to other planets. Astronomers have also discovered that Uranus produces little internal heat compared to other planets in the solar system. Uranus is the only one of the four Jovian planets (the four large gaseous planets including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) that does not produce significant internal heat, and the only one of the Jovian planets that emits less heat than it absorbs from the sun. This lack of internal heat is the reason why evolutionists originally thought that Uranus did not have a magnetic field. Therefore, the existence of a magnetic field on Uranus defies mainstream evolutionist and naturalistic models but is perfectly in line with creationist models, which maintain that planetary magnetic fields cannot exist more than several thousand years before gradually decaying in strength and weakening in to non-existence.
Uranus' Offset Magnetic Axis
Another unique feature of the magnetic field of Uranus is that the magnetic axis is offset from the rotational axis by 60 degrees, as detected by the NASA Voyager 2 satellite. Therefore, the magnetic axis does not pass through the center of the planet but is shifted to one side of the planet. This shifted magnetic axis violates the evolutionist's dynamo theory, which is their theory of how planets generate magnetic fields by electric currents and sustains them over billions of years. In addition to not producing enough heat to generate a magnetic field, the magnetic axis is shifted 60 degrees, which is unusual. Unique features such as this make the existence of a magnetic field difficult to explain in addition to how Uranus kept this magnetic field for supposedly billions of years of time. Also, when evolutionists discovered this offset magnetic axis, the assumption was that the magnetic field was going through a magnetic polarity reversal, where the magnetic field reverses polarity in opposite directions. However, three years later it was soon discovered by the Voyager II NASA satellite that Neptune also has its magnetic axis significantly offset by 47 degrees. Therefore, the likelihood that two planets were experiencing a magnetic polarity reversal at nearly the same time was unrealistic, leaving evolutionists confused. Such an unstable setup leads us to wonder how these planets could have formed and sustained a magnetic field for billions of years. While the evolutionists' models have difficulty of explaining the unique features of the planets with naturalistic explanations and their theories make incorrect assumptions, the creationists have better models that accept a unique creation within the 6,000 year time frame.
(1) Jason Lisle, Ph.D. 2014. The Solar System: Uranus. Acts & Facts. 43 (2).
(2) D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D. 1990. Beyond Neptune: Voyager II Supports Creation. Acts & Facts. 19 (5).
The Existence of Uranus Violates Mainstream Solar Nebula Theories
Creationists also explain that the existence Uranus violates the principles of solar nebula theory, or the naturalistic explanation of planetary and solar system formation by mainstream scientists. This theory has difficulty explaining how a gaseous planet as large as Uranus could form as far from our sun as Uranus is located. The theory explains that Uranus would need more time than twice the age of the Earth and a greater age than the solar system to form its present mass. However, having planetary bodies with vastly different ages would violate solar nebula theory, which proposes that the entire solar system and the component planets are about the same age, or 4.5 billion years. Having component planets of the solar system less than half the age of the solar system and other planets older than the solar system would be a serious problem for the nebula theory proposed by mainstream scientists.
D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D. 1990. Beyond Neptune: Voyager II Supports Creation. Acts & Facts. 19 (5).
NASA Science Solar System Exploration: Uranus. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/in-depth/.
R.N., Birth of Uranus and Neptune, Astronomy '28'(4):30, 2000.
Uranus' Large Tilt Conflicts with Mainstream Uniformitarian Models
An extremely unusual feature of Uranus is that it rotates on its side, or the rotational axis is tilted about 90 degrees to its orbital plane and the rotational axis nearly points toward the sun. This feature is contrary to models of planet formation by evolutionists, who commonly use the impact collision theory to describe these unique orbits and rotations. However, there is little evidence of an impact collision on Uranus. Creationists explain how Uranus has a near perfect circular orbit around the sun while the multiple moons (18 inner moons of the 27 total moons) all orbit the planet around the equator, making naturalistic explanations of an impact collision difficult. Of Uranus' 18 inner moons, all orbit prograde in the same direction as Uranus rotates. An impact simply would not have resulted in such perfect orbits for the moons of Uranus and the planet itself. Uranus also orbits within the plane of the ecliptic, or the plane in which the eight planets of the solar system rotate around the sun, which is closer than any planet except Earth. This orbit so close to the plane of the ecliptic gives stronger evidence against a collision associated with Uranus and gives strong evidence of a special creation.
Lisle, Jason, Ph.D. 2014. The Solar System: Uranus. Acts & Facts. 43 (2).
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA
by Owen Borville
Uranus is the seventh planet from our sun, a very cold and windy environment featuring 13 thin rings and 27 small moons. An icy giant having the third largest diameter of all the planets in the solar system, Uranus is four times wider in diameter than planet Earth. The most unusual feature of Uranus is that it rotates at nearly a 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit around the sun. In other words, Uranus rotates around the sun as a rolling ball. Another unique feature of Uranus is that it rotates around the sun from east to west, one of only two planets to do so (the other is Venus), which further complicates mainstream naturalistic models and gives evidence of a unique creation. Planet Uranus has a magnetic field, the strength of which was predicted by the creationist models. Discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel, Uranus was named after the Greek god of the sky and has a light blue color. Uranus was originally thought to be a star because of its far distance from Earth and its slow orbit, but Herschel was the first to recognize it as a planet. Uranus was also the first planet discovered with the aid of a telescope. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the sun and is four times wider than earth. This "ice giant" planet contains a hydrogen and helium-based outer layer with an icy, frozen interior of water, methane, and ammonia making up 80 percent of its mass. In 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 captured detailed images of Uranus that showed a blue sphere with few features, however Uranus does have more than a dozen thin rings orbiting the planet.
The Magnetic Field and Internal Heat of Uranus
Planet Uranus has a magnetic field, the strength of which was predicted by the creationist models of Dr. Russell Humphreys in 1984. Evolutionists previously predicted that the magnetic field of Uranus would be significantly weaker or non-existent using their electrically-generated dynamo models of sustained magnetic fields over millions of years. In 1986, however, the Voyager 2 spacecraft passed by Uranus and confirmed that the magnetic field strength was within Humphrey's prediction. The evolutionists describe a magnetic field for Uranus using the dynamo model, but the existence of the field is difficult to explain considering the little internal heat that Uranus produces compared to other planets. Astronomers have also discovered that Uranus produces little internal heat compared to other planets in the solar system. Uranus is the only one of the four Jovian planets (the four large gaseous planets including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) that does not produce significant internal heat, and the only one of the Jovian planets that emits less heat than it absorbs from the sun. This lack of internal heat is the reason why evolutionists originally thought that Uranus did not have a magnetic field. Therefore, the existence of a magnetic field on Uranus defies mainstream evolutionist and naturalistic models but is perfectly in line with creationist models, which maintain that planetary magnetic fields cannot exist more than several thousand years before gradually decaying in strength and weakening in to non-existence.
Uranus' Offset Magnetic Axis
Another unique feature of the magnetic field of Uranus is that the magnetic axis is offset from the rotational axis by 60 degrees, as detected by the NASA Voyager 2 satellite. Therefore, the magnetic axis does not pass through the center of the planet but is shifted to one side of the planet. This shifted magnetic axis violates the evolutionist's dynamo theory, which is their theory of how planets generate magnetic fields by electric currents and sustains them over billions of years. In addition to not producing enough heat to generate a magnetic field, the magnetic axis is shifted 60 degrees, which is unusual. Unique features such as this make the existence of a magnetic field difficult to explain in addition to how Uranus kept this magnetic field for supposedly billions of years of time. Also, when evolutionists discovered this offset magnetic axis, the assumption was that the magnetic field was going through a magnetic polarity reversal, where the magnetic field reverses polarity in opposite directions. However, three years later it was soon discovered by the Voyager II NASA satellite that Neptune also has its magnetic axis significantly offset by 47 degrees. Therefore, the likelihood that two planets were experiencing a magnetic polarity reversal at nearly the same time was unrealistic, leaving evolutionists confused. Such an unstable setup leads us to wonder how these planets could have formed and sustained a magnetic field for billions of years. While the evolutionists' models have difficulty of explaining the unique features of the planets with naturalistic explanations and their theories make incorrect assumptions, the creationists have better models that accept a unique creation within the 6,000 year time frame.
(1) Jason Lisle, Ph.D. 2014. The Solar System: Uranus. Acts & Facts. 43 (2).
(2) D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D. 1990. Beyond Neptune: Voyager II Supports Creation. Acts & Facts. 19 (5).
The Existence of Uranus Violates Mainstream Solar Nebula Theories
Creationists also explain that the existence Uranus violates the principles of solar nebula theory, or the naturalistic explanation of planetary and solar system formation by mainstream scientists. This theory has difficulty explaining how a gaseous planet as large as Uranus could form as far from our sun as Uranus is located. The theory explains that Uranus would need more time than twice the age of the Earth and a greater age than the solar system to form its present mass. However, having planetary bodies with vastly different ages would violate solar nebula theory, which proposes that the entire solar system and the component planets are about the same age, or 4.5 billion years. Having component planets of the solar system less than half the age of the solar system and other planets older than the solar system would be a serious problem for the nebula theory proposed by mainstream scientists.
D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D. 1990. Beyond Neptune: Voyager II Supports Creation. Acts & Facts. 19 (5).
NASA Science Solar System Exploration: Uranus. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/in-depth/.
R.N., Birth of Uranus and Neptune, Astronomy '28'(4):30, 2000.
Uranus' Large Tilt Conflicts with Mainstream Uniformitarian Models
An extremely unusual feature of Uranus is that it rotates on its side, or the rotational axis is tilted about 90 degrees to its orbital plane and the rotational axis nearly points toward the sun. This feature is contrary to models of planet formation by evolutionists, who commonly use the impact collision theory to describe these unique orbits and rotations. However, there is little evidence of an impact collision on Uranus. Creationists explain how Uranus has a near perfect circular orbit around the sun while the multiple moons (18 inner moons of the 27 total moons) all orbit the planet around the equator, making naturalistic explanations of an impact collision difficult. Of Uranus' 18 inner moons, all orbit prograde in the same direction as Uranus rotates. An impact simply would not have resulted in such perfect orbits for the moons of Uranus and the planet itself. Uranus also orbits within the plane of the ecliptic, or the plane in which the eight planets of the solar system rotate around the sun, which is closer than any planet except Earth. This orbit so close to the plane of the ecliptic gives stronger evidence against a collision associated with Uranus and gives strong evidence of a special creation.
Lisle, Jason, Ph.D. 2014. The Solar System: Uranus. Acts & Facts. 43 (2).
