DRAO Open House 2009

SEPTEMBER FIELD-TRIP:

DRAO Open House: A New View of the Universe

Date: 2009/09/26 – 2009/09/26

Time: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Venue: NRC Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory 717 White Lake Road Penticton, BC

Several of us took the morning down at the Observatory, checking out the equipment and listening to lectures by the scientists who work there. Good geeky fun.

30 Sep 2009 Christianity Space and Aliens

Oooooooh, now you really want to come to our group, don’t you?

I found this article on the BeThinking.org website. Be warned that I had a little trouble with the pdf file, so I’ve got some copies of the handout you can get from us if you aren’t able to print your own.

Christianity, Space and Aliens (Williams 2004)

http://www.bethinking.org/culture-worldview/christianity-space-and-aliens.htm

This intriguing article which addresses a variety of secular and Christian views about alien intelligence, makes use of popular culture references from books and film to illustrate how we can have a godly and rational discussion about non-human created life. Personally, as I have become increasingly frustrated with conspiracy theories, reactionary responses, and gullible folks of both Christian and non-Christian types, I think this is a really important position piece.

Let’s talk about aliens. Wednesday Sept 30, 7 pm, at Troy & Jody’s place. If you need a copy of the article or instructions to their place, get in touch with us.

16 Sep 2009 Galaxies and Planets

Our first meeting since the spring: Wed, Sep 16, at Troy & Jody’s house.

We have two readings on the table. Please read either one or both before Wednesday and come with your comments, critiques, and responses.

Both of these are short briefings from the Journal of Creation.

First, ‘Migrating Planets and Migrating Theories (Spencer 2007).

http://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j21_3/j21_3_12-14.pdf

This article summarizes theories of planet formation, and some of the problems with those theories.

Second, “Youngest and Brightest Galaxy … or Is It?” (Hartnett 2008)

http://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j22_2/j22_2_11-12.pdf

Reported observations of the Hubble telescope are put into context and explained, while pointing out that the new data is still hardly understood — so grand pronouncements either by secular or Christian astronomers are maybe premature.

These two are really short, but if you don’t have time to read them both, please at least skim the one which interests you the most! That will give us all something to share and discuss on Wednesday.

If anybody needs a paper copy of the articles before Wednesday, please get in touch with us (kristac at shaw dot cee eh will do). I did make spares.

28 Jan ‘09 : Poll!

The poll below is my first attempt within WordPress. I think you can only answer once, you will not be able to change your answers. If you want to look at the reading choices, use the links below the poll to go there, before voting.

These are articles from the Journal of Creation (see the Go There links in the right hand sidebar for the journal homepage).

Astronomical troubles for the astronomical hypothesis of ice ages (4 pages + references). Planetary wobble, kilo-year cyles, and north-south pole out-of-phase cooling cycles. How much change is there in how solar radiation affects the earth? How many ice ages have taken place? Can deep-sea cores be trusted, and what do their sediments show of ice age history?

Migrating planets and migrating theories (3 pages) If planets coalesce from proto-solar discs, then why are planets in our system significantly different than those around other stars? Did planets in our system form with different methods from each other? Do planets migrate in to collapse in the sun, or migrate outward to stable orbits? Or both?

Days 1–4 : Viewpoint on Genesis (7 pages + references) This article is the longest, but much less technical than the first two. Provides a stripped down outline of the first four days of creation Biblically, with some scientific perspective on the implications of the separate projects on each day. The viewpoint takes some radically different definitions than the ‘classical’ literal model, but still attempts a literal application.