Iapetus: Youth in Black and White | The Institute for Creation Research

Iapetus: Youth in Black and White
BY *  | 
SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2008

On the outskirts of the Saturn entourage flies one of the strangest objects in the solar system. Nothing else is quite like it: a large moon that is jet black on one side, and snowy white on the other. It was named Iapetus in 1671 by Jean-Dominique Cassini,1 who quickly noticed its varying brightness. His namesake, the Cassini spacecraft, visited the moon 336 years later in hopes of determining the reason once for all. It seems to have found the truth to be youth.

The question was whether the dark material was endogenic (erupting from inside) or exogenic (deposited from outside). The two leading theories competed for decades. Like many orbiting bodies (including earth's moon), Iapetus keeps one face aligned with the planet throughout its orbit. Since outlying Phoebe is dark-colored, it seemed likely that the leading hemisphere had swept up material splattered off of Phoebe or other outer moons. Voyager 2 was to settle the debate in 1981. It didn't. The view from 680,000 miles was not good enough. That's why late last year, some of the same scientists (now 26 years older) could hardly wait for Cassini to skim over this moon at under 1,000 miles away. What it found on September 10, 2007, surpassed the word "bizarre."

The images left scientists and the public in awe. Dark-and-light boundaries were crisp and sharp, like spots on a Dalmatian dog--no shades of gray were found. Some craters had dark material only on their floors. Whatever it was, the dark material was shallow; new impactors were able to pierce through it and leave a splatter of bright rays. Because it appears to lie on top of the bedrock ice, scientists are leaning toward the exogenic theory. But the stark boundaries suggested a surprising, dynamic process: the ice, warmed by the sun more in the dark region, sublimates and migrates to colder parts of the moon. This segregates the dark and light material and increases the contrast.

Finding carbon dioxide (CO2) on the surface was a surprise, since it is so volatile.2 In the May 2008 issue of Icarus,3 Palmer and Brown modeled how the "dry ice" behaves. According to their calculations, it sublimates at phenomenally rapid rates--removing a layer 50 mm thick per orbit near the equator. The ablated CO2 moves to a cold trap at one pole until the seasonal sun angle changes; then it migrates to the other pole. During each 29.5-year Saturn orbit, they calculated, possibly all the CO2 migrates from one pole to the other. En route, much of it escapes the moon entirely: up to 2 trillion kg per orbit. They calculated that 12 percent of the migrating CO2 escapes to space each Saturnian year! The H2O ice undergoes similar thermal segregation.

Clearly this loss process has a time limit. "One can see that the long-term stability of CO2 is problematic," the authors said in a classic understatement. A generous 5-kilometer-thick starting inventory would be gone in 1.6 billion years--one third the assumed age of the solar system. Since much remains today,4 that is an extreme upper limit.

To save the old age theory, the authors speculated about special delivery of additional CO2 from comets, or venting from the interior, as on Enceladus. The latter of these improbable suggestions would only substitute one youth problem for another.5 They had to rule out both these solutions from lack of evidence. Faced with these constraints, the truth of youth is there in black and white.

References

  1. The name Iapetus, one of the Titans of Greek mythology, bears a striking resemblance to Japheth, the third son of Noah.
  2. NASA press release on the Cassini mission, October 8, 2007, www.nasa.gov.
  3. Palmer, E. and R. Brown. May 2008. The stability and transport of carbon dioxide on Iapetus. Icarus. 195 (1): 434-446. DOI: doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2007.11.020.
  4. Iapetus' Equatorial Region. Jet Propulsion Laboratory press release, October 8, 2007, saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.
  5. Coppedge, D. 2006. Enceladus: A Cold, Youthful Moon. Acts & Facts. 35 (11).

* David Coppedge works in the Cassini Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The views expressed are his own.

Cite this article: Coppedge, D. 2008. Iapetus: Youth in Black and White. Acts & Facts. 37 (6): 15.

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BY: JAKE HEBERT, PH.D.



	



	Instrument data from the Cassini space probe have convinced planetary scientists that Saturn’s rings can be no more than a few hundred million years old.

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	Instrument data from the Cassini space probe have convinced planetary scientists that Saturn’s rings can be no more than a few hundred million years old.

    [stage] => 

	

    [stage_edit] => 

	

    [body] => 

	Data obtained by an instrument aboard the Cassini space probe have convinced planetary scientists that Saturn’s rings can be no more than a few hundred million years old.1 These new data confirmed some researchers’ previous suspicions. For instance, a previous ICR news article described how numerous planetary features within our solar system—including Saturn’s brilliant rings—look “young,” even to secular scientists.2



	Numerous planetary features within our solar system—including Saturn’s brilliant rings—look “young,” even to secular scientists. Tweet: Numerous planetary features within our solar system…including Saturn’s brilliant rings…look 



	One of these features is the cleanness of Saturn’s rings. Secular scientists claim that the solar system is around 4.5 billion years old, so if Saturn’s rings were indeed that old, then they should have experienced billions of years’ worth of bombardment by micrometeorites. This would have blackened the icy ring particles, giving them a dark and sooty appearance.



	The data obtained from Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) allowed planetary scientists to measure the rate of micrometeorite bombardment:



	The flux [of micrometeorite dust], about 10 times higher than estimates from before the Cassini mission, suggest a ring age of between 150 million and 300 million years, or even younger. “Our measurement is the most direct way you can measure it,” [space physicist Sascha] Kempf adds. “There’s not much you can do about it. It has to be young.”1



	Note that the rings could be “even younger” than 150 million years. Could the rings be as young as 6,000 years, as implied by the Bible’s historical data? Of course they could, since the 150-300 million year estimate is an upper limit on the age of the rings.



	Could Saturn's rings be as young as 6,000 years, as implied by the Bible’s historical data? Of course they could! Tweet: Could Saturn's rings be as young as 6,000 years, as implied by the Bible’s historical data? Of course they could!

Secular Scientists Dumbfounded by Saturn's Young Rings: https://www.icr.org/article/10404

@icrscience



	Since secular scientists have been forced to concede that the rings are young, they must somehow explain how the rings could have been formed in the relatively recent past, something which is extremely difficult. As noted by Jeff Cuzzi, an expert on Saturn’s rings, “Part of the reluctance for everyone to leap off this bridge into the unknown is we haven’t had any kind of feasible explanation [for how the rings could form recently].”1 Right now, secular scientists can only offer speculative, hand-waving explanations like these:



	It was then that some sort of catastrophe befell the gas giant [Saturn]. Perhaps a stray comet or asteroid struck an icy moon, tossing its remnants into orbit. Or maybe the orbits of Saturn’s moons somehow shifted, and the resulting gravitational tug-of-war pulled a moon apart.1 (emphasis added)



	As a systems administrator and a team leader on the Cassini project, creation scientist David Coppedge was able to occasionally interact with planetary scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He recounts,



	It was clear to me that nothing would dislodge their belief in billions of years, but there was a subtext that it would be very troubling to them if the rings turned out to be young. These quotes [from reference 1] show that to be the case: they are flummoxed and dumbfounded by the evidence. They have no explanation, and they admit it.3



	It should be noted in passing that Coppedge was demoted and eventually fired from his position at JPL in an appalling example of “viewpoint discrimination.” Coppedge’s “crimes” were that he privately shared “intelligent design” materials with his colleagues, and that he supported California’s Proposition 8 opposing homosexual marriage.4,5 Although Coppedge was apparently punished for sharing his own personal views, he recounts that his co-workers were allowed to freely express their personal beliefs with impunity.5 In spite of this blatant double standard, Coppedge lost his anti-discrimination lawsuit against JPL; the judge ruled against him without explanation.6 



	In spite of this injustice, Coppedge played a part in helping make the Cassini project possible, and the result is still more data confirming the youthfulness of our solar system.



	References


    
	
  1. 
		Voosen, P. Saturn’s rings are solar system newcomers. Science. 358 (6370): 1513-1514.
    2. 
	
  2. 
		Hebert, J. Youthful Solar System Bodies Puzzle Evolutionary Scientists. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org February 13, 2013, accessed January 3, 2018.
    3. 
	
  3. 
		Coppedge, D. F. It's Official: Saturn's Rings Are Young. Creation Evolution Headlines. Posted on crev.info January 3, 2018, accessed January 3, 2018.
    4. 
	
  4. 
		Klinghoffer, D. NASA Versus David Coppedge: Most Reprehensible Case of Anti-Intelligent Design Persecution Yet? Evolution News and Science Today. Posted on evolutionnews.org December 19, 2016, accessed January 3, 2018.
    5. 
	
  5. 
		Coppedge, D. F. Wheel of Fortune: The Liberal Culture of Shunning. Footprints of David Coppedge. Posted on davidcoppedge.com October 11, 2017, accessed January 4, 2018.
    6. 
	
  6. 
		Lee, S. After a fiery trial. World Magazine. Posted on wng.org May 28, 2016, accessed January 4, 2018.
    7. 




	*Jake Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.



	Stage Image Credit: Copyright © 2017. NASA. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.



	Article posted on January 8, 2018.

    [body_edit] => 

	Data obtained by an instrument aboard the Cassini space probe have convinced planetary scientists that Saturn’s rings can be no more than a few hundred million years old.1 These new data confirmed some researchers’ previous suspicions. For instance, a previous ICR news article described how numerous planetary features within our solar system—including Saturn’s brilliant rings—look “young,” even to secular scientists.2



	Numerous planetary features within our solar system—including Saturn’s brilliant rings—look “young,” even to secular scientists. Tweet: Numerous planetary features within our solar system…including Saturn’s brilliant rings…look 



	One of these features is the cleanness of Saturn’s rings. Secular scientists claim that the solar system is around 4.5 billion years old, so if Saturn’s rings were indeed that old, then they should have experienced billions of years’ worth of bombardment by micrometeorites. This would have blackened the icy ring particles, giving them a dark and sooty appearance.



	The data obtained from Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) allowed planetary scientists to measure the rate of micrometeorite bombardment:



	The flux [of micrometeorite dust], about 10 times higher than estimates from before the Cassini mission, suggest a ring age of between 150 million and 300 million years, or even younger. “Our measurement is the most direct way you can measure it,” [space physicist Sascha] Kempf adds. “There’s not much you can do about it. It has to be young.”1



	Note that the rings could be “even younger” than 150 million years. Could the rings be as young as 6,000 years, as implied by the Bible’s historical data? Of course they could, since the 150-300 million year estimate is an upper limit on the age of the rings.



	Could Saturn's rings be as young as 6,000 years, as implied by the Bible’s historical data? Of course they could! Tweet: Could Saturn's rings be as young as 6,000 years, as implied by the Bible’s historical data? Of course they could!

Secular Scientists Dumbfounded by Saturn's Young Rings: https://www.icr.org/article/10404

@icrscience



	Since secular scientists have been forced to concede that the rings are young, they must somehow explain how the rings could have been formed in the relatively recent past, something which is extremely difficult. As noted by Jeff Cuzzi, an expert on Saturn’s rings, “Part of the reluctance for everyone to leap off this bridge into the unknown is we haven’t had any kind of feasible explanation [for how the rings could form recently].”1 Right now, secular scientists can only offer speculative, hand-waving explanations like these:



	It was then that some sort of catastrophe befell the gas giant [Saturn]. Perhaps a stray comet or asteroid struck an icy moon, tossing its remnants into orbit. Or maybe the orbits of Saturn’s moons somehow shifted, and the resulting gravitational tug-of-war pulled a moon apart.1 (emphasis added)



	As a systems administrator and a team leader on the Cassini project, creation scientist David Coppedge was able to occasionally interact with planetary scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He recounts,



	It was clear to me that nothing would dislodge their belief in billions of years, but there was a subtext that it would be very troubling to them if the rings turned out to be young. These quotes [from reference 1] show that to be the case: they are flummoxed and dumbfounded by the evidence. They have no explanation, and they admit it.3



	It should be noted in passing that Coppedge was demoted and eventually fired from his position at JPL in an appalling example of “viewpoint discrimination.” Coppedge’s “crimes” were that he privately shared “intelligent design” materials with his colleagues, and that he supported California’s Proposition 8 opposing homosexual marriage.4,5 Although Coppedge was apparently punished for sharing his own personal views, he recounts that his co-workers were allowed to freely express their personal beliefs with impunity.5 In spite of this blatant double standard, Coppedge lost his anti-discrimination lawsuit against JPL; the judge ruled against him without explanation.6 



	In spite of this injustice, Coppedge played a part in helping make the Cassini project possible, and the result is still more data confirming the youthfulness of our solar system.



	References


    
	
  1. 
		Voosen, P. Saturn’s rings are solar system newcomers. Science. 358 (6370): 1513-1514.
    2. 
	
  2. 
		Hebert, J. Youthful Solar System Bodies Puzzle Evolutionary Scientists. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org February 13, 2013, accessed January 3, 2018.
    3. 
	
  3. 
		Coppedge, D. F. It's Official: Saturn's Rings Are Young. Creation Evolution Headlines. Posted on crev.info January 3, 2018, accessed January 3, 2018.
    4. 
	
  4. 
		Klinghoffer, D. NASA Versus David Coppedge: Most Reprehensible Case of Anti-Intelligent Design Persecution Yet? Evolution News and Science Today. Posted on evolutionnews.org December 19, 2016, accessed January 3, 2018.
    5. 
	
  5. 
		Coppedge, D. F. Wheel of Fortune: The Liberal Culture of Shunning. Footprints of David Coppedge. Posted on davidcoppedge.com October 11, 2017, accessed January 4, 2018.
    6. 
	
  6. 
		Lee, S. After a fiery trial. World Magazine. Posted on wng.org May 28, 2016, accessed January 4, 2018.
    7. 




	*Jake Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.



	Stage Image Credit: Copyright © 2017. NASA. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.



	Article posted on January 8, 2018.

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