isnt not true that in dec. 16 2012 we will be directly alligned with the center of our galaxy?

Question

also a date predicted by mayan calender and the chinese I-Ching (changes) both mentioning a major change in the world

Answer 1

The Mayans are having psuedo-science tagged onto what they actually knew and understood to make it sound more convincing.

Some points:

(a) The Sun and its entourage of planets, moons, asteroids, KBOs and comets is 26,000 light years from the Galactic Centre in a habitable zone, well away from the harmful radiation emanating from the supermassive black hole at the centre.

We never go near the Centre and our orbit is confined to the Orion Arm, a spiral arm of the galaxy. Good thing too, or life would never have developed on Earth.

COMMENT: Quite how we are supposed to travel a distance of 26,000 light years in the next 5 years (at 5,200 x the speed of light!) to get aligned with the centre, rather eludes me!

(b) The Milky Way, outside the Galactic core, is about 1,000 light-years in thickness.

The Sun's position in the Orion Arm is about 110 light years above the galactic plane.

COMMENT: Quite how we will manage to cross the "Galactic Equator" in 5 years time when that would involve travelling at 22 times the speed of light eludes me similarly!

(c) if there were to be some calamity precipitated by our temerity in getting into a allegedly disaster-prone position on Doom-and-Gloom Day the calamity would still have to get here.

If it comes from the Galactic Centre, I would have thought it would need at least 26,000 years to arrive and has already been on its way for 25,995 years therefore. Which is long before the Mayan civilisation arose and declined and would therefore pre-date their predictions.

Jolly clever of a calamity to know where to head, and when to set out on its journey to be sure to be there on time, long before we arrive where it will hit us and without even a Mayan calendar or a copy of Old Patrick Moore's Almanac to assist it! Wouldn't you say?

Makes it almost too good to be true!

There is no specific alleged calamity that any Mayanophile has put forward as being about to befall and until they can name it, and NASA can check whether there is any substance to it, there is no reason to listen to their paranoid delusions masquerading as prophesy. These people are cranks desperate to be taken seriously.

Answer 2

I think the alignment you're referring to is the point at which precession brings Sagittarius A*, the radio source which is thought to be the black hole at the center of our galaxy, to the right ascension of the winter solstice. Every star atlas I have looked at shows this as having already happened, probably in December 1998. However, since there is some doubt as to the exact location of the galactic center, some sources add an uncertainty of ±15 years to that date. So some people have decided this event should coincide with the end of the Mayan Long Count. Both of these are events of which will have no physical effect.

As for the I Ching, I just consulted it and it said "One kills three foxes in the field and receives a yellow arrow", which I take to mean it's going to be alright.

Answer 3

Gee I hope not.

Our solar system is currently located rather far out away from the axis of rotation of the Milky Way, our galaxy. We are near the rim if you think of our galaxy being shaped something like a spinning wheel. The center of our galaxy, then, is located on the hub...where the axis of rotation is.

So to move from near the rim to the hub of the wheel would mean a major dislocation of our Solar System. And that would mean major forces acting on it to get it moving towards the center of the galaxy. Those forces would be HUGE because the mass of the Solar System is HUGE. And F = Ma, which says to get a huge mass moving (a > 0) we need a commensurately huge force.

Those forces would be so immense that everything in the Solar System, including planet Earth, would be impacted to some extent. At the very least, life on Earth would likely be snuffed out. At the worst, the entire planet would be destroyed by the immense forces.

So, I repeat, gee I hope not.

Answer 4

Aligned? We're ALWAYS 'aligned' with the center of the galaxy, as is every other star and solar sytem in the galaxy.

The Mayan calendar does NOT mention a major change in the world, it simply ends in 2012 because that was the limit of their ability to calculate based on astronomical data.

Superstition is primitive and implies small-mindedness.

Answer 5

No, it's not true. That alignment, such as it was, actually took place 9 years ago in 1998, according to Jean Meeus, and absolutely nothing happened. This whole 2012 thing is based on both bad astronomy and bad archaeology.

Answer 6

The date is actually December 21, 2012. You were close but we will revoke your Mayan membership.

Answer 7

at the center of our galaxy is a huge black hole. i think the changes that were predicted is a process called the procession of the equinoxes, where every 26000 years we make one complete cycle of the zodiac, its the dawning of the age of aquarius. every 2000 years we shift in line with a new zodiac sign. something like this anyway, check it out on the web. in fact jesus was born in the picses age, hence the use of the fishes as a metaphor, and we are now leaving it to come to aquarius. all them religious scholars had written the second coming, but many misinterpreted what jesus had meant. what he meant was the second coming spiritually, and its sign is the sign of a man - aquarius.

Answer 8

If something is to be in alignment u would need 3 points . To say that 2 points are in alignment doesn't work.

Answer 9

And you actually swallow that stuff? How many "Doomsday" predictions are you going to buy into before you realize it's a cheap conspiracy to separate you from your smarts and your cash. Somebody's trying to sell another book.

Answer 10

That thing about the center of the galaxy can't be true.