Stars are thought to have taken millions of years to form after the initial “big bang” spewed matter through the expanding universe. According to the current theory of stellar evolution, a star goes through several stages. First, under the effects of gravity, gas molecules supposedly come together until they ignite a nuclear reaction in the star's interior. No one really understands how this can happen. Next the star burns brightly for hundreds of millions of years before expanding into a “red giant.” Eventually this red giant slowly collapses to from a white dwarf. Sirius B is said to be a white dwarf star. Sirius B is a huge mystery for those who believe the accepted theory of stellar evolution.
Both Egyptian astronomers (2000 B.C.) and the Roman senator Cicero (50 B.C.) described Sirius B as a red star. Other ancient writers called Sirius “more red than Mars.” One of the most famous astronomers in history, Ptolemy (150 A.D.), listed Sirius as one of six red stars. There can be no question that Sirius was red. Yet today Sirius B has beome a white dwarf star. According to modern evolutionary assumptions, it should take at least 100,000 years for a red giant to collapse into a white dwarf star. It is still hotly debated how the red giant Sirius B became a dwarf in less than 2,000 years.
Sirius B shines forth as a beacon, casting doubt on the most basic theories of stellar evolution and the gradual formation of our universe.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, September 8.
