If the universe is old, many supernova remnants (SNRs) should have reached
the third, oldest stage. We observe no Stage 3 SNRs and few Stage 2 SNRs.
Both observations are consistent with a young universe, not an old one.
Source:
Davies, Keith, 1994. Distribution of supernova remnants in the galaxy.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Creationism.
Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship.
http://www.creationdiscovery.org/cdp/articles/snrart.html Sarfati, Jonathan, 1997. Exploding stars point to a young universe:
Where
are all the supernova remnants?, Creation Ex Nihilo 19(3) (Jun-Aug):
46-48; http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/248.asp
Response:
Many more SNRs have been found, including many Stage 3 remnants older
than 20,000 years. And the census is not over yet. If the universe is
old, many SNRs should have reached the third, oldest stage, and that is
what we see. The evidence contradicts a young universe, not an old
one.
Davies's estimate of what proportion of SNRs should be visible to us is
grossly oversimplified. It is impossible to say with certainty what
proportion should be visible. Furthermore, he ignores data, including
observations of possible old remnants, that would weaken his case.
SNRs are relatively hard to see. They would not be visible for one
million years, the figure Davies used in his calculations. A million
years is the theoretical lifetime of a remnant; it will be visible for
a much shorter time because of background noise and obscuring dust and
interstellar matter. Fewer than 1 percent of SNRs last more than
100,000 years. It may be that as few as 15-20 percent of supernova
events are visible at all through the interstellar matter.
Supernovas are evidence for an old universe in other ways:
Supernovas are evidence that stars have reached the end of their
lifetime, which for many stars is billions of years.
The formation of new stars indicates that many are
second generation; the universe must be old enough for some stars to
go through their entire lifetime and for the dust from their
supernovas to collect into new stars.
It takes time for the light from the supernovas to reach us. All
supernovas and SNRs are more than 7,000 light-years from us. SN
1987A was 167,000 +/- 4,000 light years away.
