Premature Conclusions

The Rush to Discovery

Astronomers Lie about Star Formation, June 22, 2015

A look at the evidence behind the latest claim of the universe’s earliest stars shows nothing of the sort. And that’s not the biggest whopper.

“Astronomers claim first glimpse of primordial stars,” Nature News announces. Daniel Clery at Science Mag is even more brazen: “Astronomers spot first-generation stars, made from big bang.” The elusive “Population III” stars, made entirely of hydrogen, have at last been found! (one would think). These are supposedly members of the first generation of stars after the big bang, before any heavy elements had been made by supernovas. Science Daily tantalizes, “until now the search for physical proof of their existence had been inconclusive,” under its bold headline, “Best observational evidence of first generation stars in the universe: VLT discovers CR7, the brightest distant galaxy, and signs of Population III stars.”

But it’s not true. Read the fine print. Nature says,

Now astronomers think they may have spied a late-blooming cluster of such stars, in the brightest distant galaxy observed to date. The stars, seen as they were when the Universe was around 800 million years old, appear to be primordial in composition – but also to have formed more recently than some second-generation stars.

These can’t be first-generation stars if they are younger than second-generation stars, especially when theory expects first-generation stars to burn out quickly. The statement only says they “appear to be primordial in composition.” But they are found in a galaxy with stars containing heavy elements. Those stars (according to current theory) could only form well after the “primordial” Population III stars had gone supernova, sending heavy elements into the galaxy’s gas and dust.

http://creationrevolution.com/astronomers-lie-about-star-formation/

Comments

Scientists need to report new phenomena as just that. Most honest scientists are happy to announce that they have no idea what it means, but are excited to try to find out. They then need to list what can be learned and what theories could advance that knowledge. They should know that premature claims will further damage their credibility. In this post-global warming scam era, all physical scientists need to be careful, lest they be transferred to the “political science” department with the “climate science” professors.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader