Critically examining the "End of the World"
When is the next galactic alignment?
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Question:
Dont say it is dec 2012 because that is when the Mayans predicted the world to end. We have the technology to prove when this will happen so please give me a link to astronomical proof of when this will happen
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| This entry was posted by Daniel on June 1, 2010 at 5:41 am, and is filed under Galactic Alignment Theory. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |



about 1 year ago
dude Dec 21, 2012. that the answer
about 1 year ago
never, there is no such thing
about 1 year ago
There will be a partial alignment in 2040. Interesting to check the first link just to see the whole doomsday gravitational pull thing (I know, you’re not into the 2012 thing, and I’m not either, but it’s interesting).
If you take a REAL planetary alignment of just the Solar System, and define it as a straight line out from the Sun (with the Moon in line too), which is the real meaning of the word alignment, what are the odds of all the superior planets falling on the same celestial coordinates on the *ecliptic* while at opposition, the inferior planets on the same coordinates while at inferior conjunction while on the *ecliptic,* and the Moon at one of its two node points (the position in its orbit that intersects the Earth’s orbital plane) during either a solar or lunar eclipse (note that the Moon’s orbit is tilted by 5° with respect to the ecliptic). This would be a “real” planetary alignment, with our Solar System, because things need to line up on the ecliptic, I assume to make it a real “alignment.” How often does that happen?
Roughly every 340 million years. But hold on, what about all of the planets being in the correct Right Ascension as seen from the Sun? That takes it out to once in 180 trillion years. Which is far, far older than our Solar System (only about 5 billion years old).
Finally, what about a complete, total planetary alignment with all of that stuff above PLUS the Moon? You need to wait
86 quattuordecillion years. That’s 45 trailing zeroes. Which is 86E+36 undecillion years… the Universe is only about 13 – 17 billion years old (17E+9). So… that’s a long time to wait, and the probability is not good.
Now consider that that’s just within our own Solar System. Try to figure out how long it will take to happen with a *galactic alignment*????
Insanely long. There’s math for you below.
about 1 year ago
First of all, the real Maya didn’t predict the world to end. The end of the world claim was invented in 1987.
Second, there is no such thing as a galactic alignment in astronomy. The alignment of the sun with the center of the galaxy will next happen during a summer solstice in about 13000 years, the last time it happened, was after 1960. As the sun is very large in the sky, such an “alignment” happens once per year for a six year period.
The passage of the sun through the galactic disc will be next in about 150 million years, but that is harder to predicted since we have still only a rough knowledge, where this plane lies, or how the sun wobbles through its orbital plane.
about 1 year ago
Please, do not use the word “technology” and the phrase “Mayans predicted the world to end” in the same paragraph.
The Mayans never predicted the world would end… ever. The Mayans only mentioned 2012 ONCE and it had nothing to do with the end of the world or pretty much anything rational, as half the inscription was missing.
The only people that believe that anything bad will happen in 2012 are gullible dullards.
http://www.2012hoax.org
about 1 year ago
Can you please say what you mean by “galactic alignment”? It’s not a term I’ve read in any book or mag, or heard an astonomer or astrophysicist use.
Alignment obviously means objects are in line relative to each other. Any two objects are always in alignment because a line can be drawn from one to the other. A third object may or may never be in alignment with the other two, depending on its movement relative to them. So how many and which objects are in line in a “galactic alignment”?
about 1 year ago
What is a Galactic Alignment.
So far, the only times I have heard about this was in connection with the Big 2012 Hoax, which was created by charlatans during the summer of 2003.
They have used at least three “definitions” of Galactic Alignment (probably to fool even more gullible people).
1) The Sun lining up with the Galactic centre: This cannot happen as the Sun always misses the Galactic centre by at least 5.5 degrees. Every year. Around December 21.
If you care about the 5th or 6th decimal, then the closest approach (still missing by more than 5.5 degrees) was a few years ago — BEFORE the creation of the Big 2012 Hoax.
2) The Sun crossing the Galactic equator: This happens twice a year, every year (around Dec. 21 and June 21). The ecliptic (apparent path of the Sun over the celestial sphere) is a great circle. The Galactic equator is also a great circle. It is usually part of the first assignment in spherical trig to prove that two distinct great circles MUST cross twice. Students who can’t manage that assignment usually drop the course.
3) The solstice crossing the Galactic equator: An artificial mathematical point on the ecliptic, crossing an artificial great circle in a totally independent coordinate system. This should happen once every 25,800 years. However, it has never happened before, because the Galactic equator was only invented recently (a few centuries at most).
—
The Mayans certainly did not predict the end of the world. That “prophecy” was invented by the charlatans during the summer of 2003, when they were creating the Big 2012 Hoax. They have based it on a lie invented in the late 1980s by another charlatan who invented the “end of the Mayan calendar”. This other charlatan claims to be a reincarnated Mayan priest (he is not, he was born in Minnesota).
The calendar does not even end. The Mayans used their “Mesoamerican Long Count” calendar to describe events they predicted for well after the year we call 4000. Obviously, the real Mayans expected neither the world nor their calendar to end in 2012.
about 1 year ago
There is no such thing as a galactic alignment.
And if indeed the Mayans predicted the end of the world, they will soon be joining the very long line of those who have predicted the end of the world unsuccessfully for many centuries.
A prediction based on belief is highly unlikely to ever be correct.
So, there is nothing over which to be concerned.
about 1 year ago
Galactic alignment is an invention by a bunch of crackpots in order to conjure up some sort of ‘event’ for 2012. Since they seem unable to provide a concise definition, we’ll have to try and guess what they mean.
Could it be the Sun aligning with the centre of the Milky Way galaxy? Well, no because the centre of the Milky Way is not in the plane of the Earth’s orbit, so the Sun can never line up with it.
Could they mean the Sun crossing the equator of the Milky Way? The Sun does a complete circuit of the sky every year and therefore appears in line with the Milky Way in June and December every year. So that can’t be right.
What about the once in 26,000 year alignment of the solstice point with the galactic equator? Nope, that took place in 1998. No-one noticed.
All the preceding are merely line-of-sight effects as seen from the Earth’s perspective. An observer on Mars would see something completely different. Some of the cranks have become confused and decided that galactic alignment must be something to do with the revolution of the whole solar system around the galaxy, taking 225 million years. During this orbit, the solar system bobs up and down a few times and measurements taken from the Hipparcos satellite reveal that the solar system is currently moving away from the central plane of the galaxy and won’t pass through it for another 30 million years or so. That can’t be what they mean then.
So we have: 1) Can’t ever happen 2) Happens every year 3) Happened in 1998 or 4) Won’t happen for 30 million years.
Take your pick.
about 1 year ago
To begin with, it’s ALL HOAX.
See why the world will NOT end in 2012 here:
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/14/2012-combat-the-nonsense/
If you like to go into detail by detail like a thorough research would, debunking each of the fallacy, go here:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/nutshell.html
http://www.universetoday.com/category/2012/
http://www.2012hoax.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
Here’s a site that discusses further but is rather short and not time-consuming.
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/090614-end-of-the-world-hoax.html
Here’s what NASA has to say, truthfully and scientifically:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-guest.html
http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/11/2012-nasas-scientific-reality-check/
Hope you read them all!
Don’t be fooled. Better stay informed with the right information from CREDIBLE SOURCES.
Feel free to share this information to anyone whom you think is concerned with this hoax.
Clear skies and have a nice day!:-)