An abundance of scientific and anecdotal evidence suggests that anxiety is increasing, globally and rapidly, among people of all age groups, and especially among young people. Amidst a host of contributing factors comes this highly publicized comment from well-known astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson: “The universe is a deadly place. At every opportunity it’s trying to kill us.”1 While some discoveries may seem to suggest that the universe is even more dangerous than previously thought, astronomers also see—as I have often reported on—an accumulation of evidence that Earth resides in a rare, likely unique, cosmic “safe zone,” provided by our Creator.

As you may know from textbooks or my previous writings, the universe is filled with objects pouring out deadly radiation. A few examples include cataclysmic variable stars, novae, supernovae, pulsars, supernova remnants, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts. You’ve heard that various asteroids may be on a collision course with planet Earth. Now, a team of 52 astronomers from ten nations led by Matt Nicholl of Queens University, Belfast, has discovered yet another risk to advanced life—“extremely luminous, fast-cooling transients,” or, for the purposes of this article, ELFCTs.2 (Astronomers have yet to come up with an official name for these newly discovered deadly objects/events.)  

While using the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert Survey (ATLAS), Nicholl’s team detected three of these “transient” phenomena. ATLAS, unlike most supernova survey telescopes, is specially designed to detect rapidly evolving astronomical phenomena on time scales of days, as compared to weeks or months. The three events they observed occurred in massive elliptical galaxies where star formation ceased long ago, “passive” galaxies. In terms of spatial orientation, these events occurred between 13,000 and 32,000 light-years out from the center of their galaxies. 

For the three events, the peak optical-wavelength luminosity rose to 16 times brighter than the peak luminosity of a Type Ia supernova (the optically brightest stellar objects previously observed), and yet their radio and x-ray emission levels were undetectable. Their brightness rose from undetectable to peak luminosity in a mere 9 days, and then faded by a factor of 6 within 15 days.

Not Supernovae
At first glance, these events appeared to be a new category of supernovae. However, the team of 52 astronomers quickly ruled out this possibility. First, they noted that no conceivable supernova model would explain the rapid rise and fall in optical luminosity astronomers observed for these events. Second, no conceivable supernova model would explain the lack of detectable radio and x-ray radiation from these events.

Additionally, Type Ia supernovae exhibit consistent, uniform peak luminosities; consistent, uniform rise and fade times; and consistent, uniform spectral distributions in their radiation outputs. The observed features for all three events fail, by far, to match any of these features.

As noted, the host galaxies for the three events are all passive. They ceased star formation several hundred million or even billions of years prior to the lookback time—the time it took the light from the galaxies in which the three events occurred to reach astronomers’ telescopes. Stars massive enough to become supernovae undergo star formation, nuclear burning, and a supernova eruption all in less than a few million years.

Black Hole Encounter
The team went on to consider and analyze six other possible explanations for the ELFCTs they had observed. Their work demonstrated that the only viable explanation would be a close gravitational encounter (or merger) between a relatively low-mass star with either a stellar-mass black hole (having a mass equal to a few times as large as our star, the Sun) or an intermediate-mass black hole (several hundred to several thousand times the Sun’s mass). 

Intermediate-mass black holes have been found to reside, typically, at the core of globular clusters (see figure 1).3 Gravity-wave telescopes have detected the existence of stellar-mass black holes as well.4 The team concluded that the three ELFCTs they observed could best be explained as encounters between low-mass stars and stellar-mass black holes. 

Figure 1: M2, a Globular Cluster 37,000 Light-Years Away
M2 contains over 150,000 stars. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Space Telescope/STScI   

Further, the team provided a tentative estimate of the frequency with which ELFCT events are likely to occur within the universe. That figure: one such event per cubic gigaparsec per year. (A gigaparsec = 3.26 million light-years.) This occurrence rate is about 100,000 times lower than the supernova core collapse rate. The team closed their paper with a reminder that all conclusions drawn from their discovery must be acknowledged as tentative. They emphasized the need for future observations and survey programs to elucidate both the nature and occurrence of ELFCTs. Nevertheless, even their initial observations make clear that extremely luminous, fast-cooling transient events will occur almost exclusively in star clusters and galaxies where both the density and number of stars is high, more specifically, in large, dense globular clusters and in large, dense elliptical/spherical galaxies (see figure 2).

Figure 2: ESO 325-G004, an Elliptical Galaxy 450 Million Light-Years Away 
ESO 325-G004 contains several thousand globular clusters. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA   

Design Significance
Based on the team’s assessment of their remarkable discovery, Earth resides in a location well protected from the dangers of ELFCTs. The Milky Way Galaxy (MWG) has the lowest known ratio of stellar mass to total mass of any known large spiral galaxy. Its stellar mass to total mass ratio is only half that of the Andromeda Galaxy’s. Our galaxy also has a low number of globular clusters as compared with other large galaxies, a total of just 152 compared to several thousand. 

Our solar system resides 26,000 light-years distant from the galactic center, where stellar density is highest. In other words, our solar system exists in what’s considered an “under-dense” region of the MWG. So, in the context of ELFCT risk, Earth appears to reside in the safest location within the safest galaxy in which advanced life can conceivably exist. 

In fact, the MWG belongs to a galaxy group where no giant galaxies or large spheroidal/ellipsoidal galaxies exist. The galaxy groups in the vicinity of the MWG’s group are all relatively small and devoid of giant galaxies. The nearest galaxy clusters are the Virgo, Centaurus, Hydra, Pavo, and Fornax clusters. Of these clusters, only the Virgo and Centaurus contain more than a few giant ellipsoidal/spheroidal galaxies. Given that the giant ellipsoidal/spheroidal galaxies in the Virgo and Centaurus clusters are more than 50 million light-years away, they present little, if any, ELFCT risk to advanced life on Earth. 

The discovery of ELFCTs represents one more factor limiting the possible existence of advanced life in other regions of the universe beyond Earth. Provision of a safe space amid the countless dangers identified by astrophysicists, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, suggests to me the careful planning of a purposeful, personal Creator, more specifically, the God of the Bible.

Check out more from Reasons to Believe @Reasons.org

Endnotes

  1. “Neil deGrasse Tyson (caught on camera): The Universe Is Trying to Kill You,” interview outtake, Big Think Mentor (June 27, 2013), bigthink.com/big-think-mentor/neil-deGrasse-Tyson-caught-on-camera-the-universe-is-trying-to-kill-you.
  2. M. Nicholl et al., “AT 2022aedm and a New Class of Luminous, Fast-Cooling Transients in Elliptical Galaxies,” Astrophysical Journal Letters 954, no. 1 (September 1, 2023): L28, doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acf0ba.
  3. Manuel Arca Sedda et al., “The DRAGON-II Simulations – II. Formation Mechanisms, Mass, and Spin of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Star Clusters with Up to 1 Million Stars,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 526, no. 1 (November 2023): 429–442, doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2292.
  4. The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, and the KAGRA Collaboration, “GETC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the Second Part of the Third Observing Run,” to be published in Physical Review X (October 23, 2023), arXiv:2111.03606.

About The Author

Dr. Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from my passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. I also am eager to equip Christians to engage, rather than withdraw from or attack, educated non-Christians. One of the approaches I’ve developed, with the help of my RTB colleagues, is a biblical creation model that is testable, falsifiable, and predictive. I enjoy constructively integrating all 66 books of the Bible with all the science disciplines as a way to discover and apply deeper truths. 1 Peter 3:15–16 sets my ministry goal, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience." Hugh Ross launched his career at age seven when he went to the library to find out why stars are hot. Physics and astronomy captured his curiosity and never let go. At age seventeen he became the youngest person ever to serve as director of observations for Vancouver's Royal Astronomical Society. With the help of a provincial scholarship and a National Research Council (NRC) of Canada fellowship, he completed his undergraduate degree in physics (University of British Columbia) and graduate degrees in astronomy (University of Toronto). The NRC also sent him to the United States for postdoctoral studies. At Caltech he researched quasi-stellar objects, or "quasars," some of the most distant and ancient objects in the universe. Not all of Hugh's discoveries involved astrophysics. Prompted by curiosity, he studied the world’s religions and "holy books" and found only one book that proved scientifically and historically accurate: the Bible. Hugh started at religious "ground zero" and through scientific and historical reality-testing became convinced that the Bible is truly the Word of God! When he went on to describe for others his journey to faith in Jesus Christ, he was surprised to discover how many people believed or disbelieved without checking the evidence. Hugh's unshakable confidence that God's revelations in Scripture and nature do not, will not, and cannot contradict became his unique message. Wholeheartedly encouraged by family and friends, communicating that message as broadly and clearly as possible became his mission. Thus, in 1986, he founded science-faith think tank Reasons to Believe (RTB). He and his colleagues at RTB keep tabs on the frontiers of research to share with scientists and nonscientists alike the thrilling news of what's being discovered and how it connects with biblical theology. In this realm, he has written many books, including: The Fingerprint of God, The Creator and the Cosmos, Beyond the Cosmos, A Matter of Days, Creation as Science, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, and More Than a Theory. Between writing books and articles, recording podcasts, and taking interviews, Hugh travels the world challenging students and faculty, churches and professional groups, to consider what they believe and why. He presents a persuasive case for Christianity without applying pressure. Because he treats people's questions and comments with respect, he is in great demand as a speaker and as a talk-radio and television guest. Having grown up amid the splendor of Canada's mountains, wildlife, and waterways, Hugh loves the outdoors. Hiking, trail running, and photography are among his favorite recreational pursuits - in addition to stargazing. Hugh lives in Southern California with his wife, Kathy, and two sons.



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