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The Creation Explanation

Creation Explanation Design in the Universe

Did Galaxies Evolve?

Galaxies are classified roughly into three categories: Spirals and ellipticals, making up the majority, and irregulars, which comprise a small minority. But there are about a dozen intermediate classifications, used by astronomers to describe the observed objects. Numerous attempts have been made in the past to develop an evolutionary theory for galaxies, but none has proved successful.

Supposedly a huge rotating gas cloud underwent gravitational collapse to form an elliptical galaxy, spread out into a rotating disk, and developed spiral arms which slowly wound up as the galaxy continued to turn. On the other hand, some theories postulated the reverse evolutionary course from spiral to elliptical irregular.

The current view is that galaxies do not evolve from one kind to another, but that each one as it originates takes on a type of structure determined primarily by the speed of its rotation. One difficulty with all such theories is that continued rotation would wipe out the spiral arms and produce a circular ring structure which is not observed. The fairly common "barred Spirals" are particular difficult to explain, for there is no known force that would preserve the bars.

Astronomer George Abell has stated, "There is much doubt, however, that galaxies evolve from one type to another at all."44 A scientist who believes in creation, considering all of the evidence, concludes that creation is an explanation of the origin of galaxies as good as or perhaps better than the evolutionary theory.

 

References

44. Abell, George, Exploration of the Universe, 2nd Editior (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, 1969), pp. 572.

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