Distant Starlight Problem, Hugh Ross and Me

Hugh Ross

July 31 (2025) at 6:47 PM

Question of the Week: What do you say to people who assert only God was there to observe the past state of the universe and, therefore, we can only trust what God says about the past and not astronomers?

My Answer: God has not granted us access to the future. He is our only source of information about what will happen in the future. He has, however, granted us access to the past thanks to the finite and constant velocity of light. While astronomers have no access to the present when they observe stars and galaxies, they have direct access to the past. For example, when they observe the Sun, they do not see the Sun as it is now but as it was about 8 minutes ago when light departed from the Sun on its way to Earth. Likewise, when astronomers observed the Andromeda Galaxy, they do not see it as it is now, but as it was 2.5 million years ago.

Astronomers can prove that the velocity of light has not changed, The degree of splitting in hyperfine spectral lines of stars and galaxies reveals the velocity of light when that light left the star and galaxy. The velocity measures the same for all stars and galaxies astronomers observe.

Astronomers can also prove that the light came from the stars and galaxies they observe and not from a location near to Earth. As light travels through interstellalr space, the gas in insterstellar space broadens the spectral lines in proportion to the light travel distance. The dust in interstellar space reddens the continuum radiation between spectral lines in proportion to the light travel distance.

Thus, astronomers do possess direct, trustworthy access to the past state of the universe. Astronomers can confirm that what the Bible says about the past state of the universe is true. It is no accident that the most powerful, unambiguous scientific evidence for the God of the Bible is observational astrophysics.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Likewise, when astronomers observed the Andromeda Galaxy, they do not see it as it is now, but as it was 2.5 million years ago.

Supposing there is a verification of the 2.5 million lightyears.

New blog on the kid: Have you heard the expression "von Neumann chain"?
https://nov9blogg9.blogspot.com/2022/08/have-you-heard-expression-von-neumann.html

Hugh Ross

Hans-Georg Lundahl Astronomers have achieved an assumption-free verification. They have made trigonometric distance measurements to galaxies as far away as 470 million light years.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

The trigonometry depends on the assumption earth is moving two astronomic units per year, right?

How's that "assumption free"?

Next Day

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Hugh Ross With Earth moving two astronomic units between January and July, there is trigonometry by 1 known distance and 3 known angles (with a very narrow angle, we assume the other two angles are very close to 90°, obviously).

With the Earth staying still and the star moving between January and July, as we cannot know it moves 2 astronomic units, we only have three angles (pointing the other way). 3 known angles and 0 known distance = no calculated distance either.

Prove alpha Centauri and Andromeda are not both in a shell of fix stars 1 light day up, please!