Perhaps the question most often asked of Biblical creationists is how light from distant stars could get to the earth in a few thousand years. People usually want a quick one-sentence answer to this question, but to discuss it fairly would require understanding of many complex and seemingly counterintuitive laws of physics.

They had told us a particular supernova exploded 10,000 years ago. How then, did the Chinese see it in AD 185? The answer is a case study in scientific inference.

Some of the most stunning astronomical objects are globular clusters. These spherically-distributed celestial ornaments can pack a million stars within a tiny angle of space as seen from Earth. For example, M13 in Hercules fills the eyepiece of a 14" Schmidt-Cassegrain or 20" Dobsonian telescope.

Dating methods are like human pyramids; they depend ultimately on the support of the bottom layer. Picture an inverted pyramid. If the bottom guy buckles under pressure, the circus act quickly turns into a dogpile. One widely used technique for estimating ages of planetary surfaces is in similar jeopardy.