And though when circumstances allow, they still work together superbly, I'm also not referring to Simon and Garfunkel.
There are many factors that make life sustainable on earth. And life would not be possible if even just one of these ingredients was not present (oxygen, air, atmosphere, land, water, food, light, heat, the seasons etc). What we have is an interwoven tapestry of variables and, more importantly, constants - which combine together to allow life to thrive. One duo in particular worth mentioning are our sun and moon.
The sun is an almost perfect sphere, around 109 times the size of earth. To give you an idea, it would take 1.3 million earths to fill it by volume. The surface temperature is around 5,505 degrees Centigrade. It is neither solid nor liquid, but is in fact gaseous, 98% being Hydrogen and Helium. The sun generates energy by nuclear fusion at it's core at the rate of 620 million metric tons of Hydrogen per second. It is 93 million miles from earth on average and light travels to earth in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds. The suns light and heat supports almost all life on this planet.
Our sun is uncommonly stable when compared to other suns we have data on. The sun's heat output varied only 6/100ths of 1% during continual observational experiments conducted between 1974 and 2006 by astronomers at McMath Solar Observatory in Kitt Peak, Arizona, U.S.A. That is pretty consistent!
The sun is also tremendously more stable than other suns we know of. Many stars appear to offer significant fluctuations in terms of their emission of light and heat. Many also produce light and heat in far smaller amounts than our sun as well as producing significantly greater volumes of harmful X-Ray and Gamma Ray radiations, which life on earth could not endure. Life on earth would also be precarious if our Solar System contained multiple suns, as is often the case. In addition, if the earth was much closer or further away from the sun, that would present great difficulties for us.
The moon also, possesses unique characteristics. If the moon were much larger or nearer to earth, huge tides would overflow the continents and erode mountains. Evolutionists have no explanation for how our moon came to be orbiting the earth, other than that since it is obviously "there", it must have gotten there somehow! There are four basic speculations :
(1) That it might have been formed from the earth (fission). But this seems very unlikely for a number of reasons, not the least being that the moon does not have an iron core like the earth, nor has it got the earth's general composition.
(2) That the moon formed independently of the earth (capture). The idea here is that the earth's gravitational pull brought it into earth's orbit as it hurtled through space. This seems incredible as the moon is far too large to be thus affected by earth's pull.
(3) That the moon was formed simultaneously with the earth (condensation). But this is just another wild guess with no mechanism known to achieve the moon's happy beneficial proximity. Again, the moon's composition contradicts this view.
(4) That a small planet the size perhaps of Mars struck earth in the distant past and the ensuing debris swirled around till it formed neatly into the moon. This is currently the generally accepted view among evolutionists. Like many pieces of the evolutionary jigsaw, as long as the hypothesis is placed far enough into the past as to be 100% unprovable, it is deemed to be good science.
The Bible offers another explanation and calls the moon "a faithful witness in heaven" (Psalm 89:37). A faithful witness to what? To God's own faithfulness and to the Creation event. The Bible further states that moon was created instantly (Psalm 33:6) out of nothing (Hebrews 11:5) and as a fully functioning satellite from the outset (Genesis 1:16). The Bible also tells us the moon's practical purpose, to provide earth's evening light (Genesis 1:16) which function it would not be able to perform if it was the size of the average solar system moon, which is some 99% smaller. Throughout history, many cultures have used the moon's phases to calculate calendar months and accurately compute time. Earth's tides are caused primarily by the gravitational attraction of the moon. Tidal flows are "regular as clockwork" and provide for shoreline cleansing and assist many forms of ocean life. The moon's orbit is stable and is in no danger of burning up, although the moon is slowly moving slightly away from earth at the rate of 4 centimetres a year.
"Our moon is the only moon in the solar system that has a stationary, near-perfect circular orbit. Stranger still, the moon’s center of mass is about 6000 feet closer to the Earth than its geometric center (which should cause wobbling), but the moon’s bulge is on the far side of the moon, away from the Earth. "Something" had to put the moon in orbit with its precise altitude, course, and speed." *
When considering the sun and moon together as a pair, there is also the amazing co-incidence between the diameters of the sun and moon vis-a-vis their positioning and distancing from earth, which results in the possibility of full solar eclipses.
"The moon looks the same size as the sun. This is an amazing co-incidence....of course the sun is much bigger than the moon. The sun happens to be 400 times larger than the moon, but it's also 400 times further away...." **
"There is no astronomical reason why the moon and the sun should fit so well. It is the sheerest of coincidences, and only the Earth among all the planets is blessed in this fashion." (Isaac Asimov)
The Bible invites us to think about the moon and sun; to wonder at the stars and planetary arrangements and to be in awe of the intricacies of His design and the care He took in all parts of creation. Evidence of intelligent design is literally everywhere.
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have set in place..." (Psalm 8:3)
* http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/luna/esp_luna_16.htm
** http://www.universetoday.com/20050/10-interesting-facts-about-the-moon/
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