February 7 – Planetary Magnetic Fields
Did you know that the planet Mercury is a testimony to creation? Back in 1974-75, the space probe Mariner 10 discovered that Mercury has a magnetic field. Thirty-six years later, in 2011, space probe Messenger documented that Mercury’s magnetic field strength had fallen 8%. So what, you say! This means that the magnetic field on Mercury has a half-life of only 320 years. In other words, every 300 years or so, Mercury loses half the strength of its magnetic field. If Mercury is billions of years old, or even hundreds of thousands of years old, it could not possibly have any magnetic field left. This recent discovery is enormously strong evidence from the field of cosmology that our solar system had to have been recently created. But it gets even better!
The validity of any scientific theory is based on its ability to predict as yet unmeasured or unseen events. Dr. Russell Humphreys, a Bible-believing, creation scientist, correctly predicted rapid decay of Mercury’s magnetic field decades before Messenger measured the planet’s field strength. His correct prediction was based on his theory that all the planets were initially formed about 6000 years ago. He also correctly predicted the strength of Uranus’ and Neptune’s magnetic fields – before spacecraft measured these magnetic fields. In EVERY case of predicting magnetic fields, the predictions of old-age evolutionary astronomers were wrong! But of course, Dr. Humphreys would be correct; he started with the Bible to develop his mathematical models. The universe is young, just as the Bible says. Mercury’s magnetic field is a testimony to creation!
Psalm 19:1
KJV: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork
NIV: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Reference
www.CreationAstronomy.com Creation Astronomy News, April 2013, Spike Psarris
Lisle, Jason. 2006. Taking Back Astronomy. Green Forest, AR: Master Books. 63-64.
Lisle, Dr. Jason. 2005. What does the Bible say about Astronomy? Petersburg, Kentucky: Answers in Genesis. 11-12.