Attention Mormons
Some Facts About Kolob
Mormons have long claimed that their god originates from the starbase Kolob. He was chosen, according to Mormon teaching, to populate this planet, Earth.
Mormons believe that if they do what their church tells them, they will one day become gods themselves and be given a planet of their own to rule and populate. This presupposes there are millions of habitable planets in the universe. To any astronomer this idea poses many problems. Perhaps that is why there are no known Mormon astronomers.
First let us look at this planet of origin for Mormonism. The Mormon Church claims that Kolob is close to the centre of our galaxy. It is claimed to be 1,000 times the size of Earth and to have a rotation period of 1,000 Earth days. Anyone who knows physics and has a rudimentary knowledge of astronomy will have instant and severe problems with this claim. As we draw near to the centre of any galaxy (let alone ours which is approx. 120 light years across) we find that stars pack closer and closer together. The orbit of Earth is very stable and very circular. Without these two factors (as well as other ones) life would be impossible here. A variation of only 1.5 degrees in the circularity of the orbit would render Earth totally uninhabitable. In any area where there are a large number of stars packed close together, gravitational interaction of those stars makes a stable orbit impossible. An irregular orbit means no life is possible.
Secondly, close to the centre of any galaxy the synchrotron radiation is so high no life could exist. We can be very confident in knowing this. Our galaxy is know for a very high level of homogeneity - it is pretty much the same everywhere. Life can only be based on three elements; carbon - the element we are based on; boron and silicon. It is impossible to build up sufficiently long DNA strings on either boron or silicon. Boron is also very rare. Again, no life is possible at the centre of our galaxy.
Thirdly, there is a problem with Kolob's alleged size. At 1,000 times the mass of Earth the inhabitants would be a bit shorter than us humans. In fact they couldn't even reach the height of our toenails! To be any more than a centimetre or two in height anywhere near the alleged site of Kolob would require so much energy that anyone living would need to be assimilating the material that neutron stars (those dead stars found at the centre of black holes) are made of - it weighs in at a measly 5,000,000,000 tons per teaspoon full!
Fourthly, the claimed rotation of 1,000 earth days of Kolob creates a problem. At this speed of rotation, given the necessary proximity to the life-supporting star, the temperature during the day would be high enough to melt steel. The night time would see a chilly minus 264 degrees - about 3 degrees above absolute zero.
Finally, as regards those millions of habitable planets for good-living Mormons to populate, it has been calculated that the odds of having a life support planet with the required fine tuning that planet Earth has are approximately one chance in 1,050,000. I'm sorry, but the odds are pretty slim! Does this mean that all those Mormons, however well-behaved, are going to face the Great White Throne Judgement, instead of whizzing off to their own honeymoon planet?
Mormons believe that if they do what their church tells them, they will one day become gods themselves and be given a planet of their own to rule and populate. This presupposes there are millions of habitable planets in the universe. To any astronomer this idea poses many problems. Perhaps that is why there are no known Mormon astronomers.
First let us look at this planet of origin for Mormonism. The Mormon Church claims that Kolob is close to the centre of our galaxy. It is claimed to be 1,000 times the size of Earth and to have a rotation period of 1,000 Earth days. Anyone who knows physics and has a rudimentary knowledge of astronomy will have instant and severe problems with this claim. As we draw near to the centre of any galaxy (let alone ours which is approx. 120 light years across) we find that stars pack closer and closer together. The orbit of Earth is very stable and very circular. Without these two factors (as well as other ones) life would be impossible here. A variation of only 1.5 degrees in the circularity of the orbit would render Earth totally uninhabitable. In any area where there are a large number of stars packed close together, gravitational interaction of those stars makes a stable orbit impossible. An irregular orbit means no life is possible.
Secondly, close to the centre of any galaxy the synchrotron radiation is so high no life could exist. We can be very confident in knowing this. Our galaxy is know for a very high level of homogeneity - it is pretty much the same everywhere. Life can only be based on three elements; carbon - the element we are based on; boron and silicon. It is impossible to build up sufficiently long DNA strings on either boron or silicon. Boron is also very rare. Again, no life is possible at the centre of our galaxy.
Thirdly, there is a problem with Kolob's alleged size. At 1,000 times the mass of Earth the inhabitants would be a bit shorter than us humans. In fact they couldn't even reach the height of our toenails! To be any more than a centimetre or two in height anywhere near the alleged site of Kolob would require so much energy that anyone living would need to be assimilating the material that neutron stars (those dead stars found at the centre of black holes) are made of - it weighs in at a measly 5,000,000,000 tons per teaspoon full!
Fourthly, the claimed rotation of 1,000 earth days of Kolob creates a problem. At this speed of rotation, given the necessary proximity to the life-supporting star, the temperature during the day would be high enough to melt steel. The night time would see a chilly minus 264 degrees - about 3 degrees above absolute zero.
Finally, as regards those millions of habitable planets for good-living Mormons to populate, it has been calculated that the odds of having a life support planet with the required fine tuning that planet Earth has are approximately one chance in 1,050,000. I'm sorry, but the odds are pretty slim! Does this mean that all those Mormons, however well-behaved, are going to face the Great White Throne Judgement, instead of whizzing off to their own honeymoon planet?