2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range ofeschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21,2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed.A New Age interpretation of this transition postulates that during this time, Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, or Earth's collision with a black hole or a passing planet called "Nibiru".Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of catastrophe in 2012. MainstreamMayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the existing classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history.The modern Maya do not consider the date significant, and the classical sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory. Astronomers and other scientists have rejected the apocalyptic forecasts aspseudoscience, stating that the anticipated events are contradicted by simple astronomical
Doomsday theories
A far more apocalyptic view of the year 2012 that has spread in various media describes the end of the world or of human civilization on that date. This view has been promulgated by many hoax pages on the Internet, particularly onYouTube, and by the History Channel, with such series as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse(2007), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008). TheDiscovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massivesolar storms, magnetic pole reversal, earthquakes, supervolcanoes, and other drastic natural events may occur in 2012]Author Graham Hancock, in his book Fingerprints of the Gods, interpreted Coe's remarks inBreaking the Maya Code as evidence for the prophecy of a global cataclysm.
Other alignments
Some people have interpreted Jenkins's hypothesis apocalyptically, claiming that when the galactic alignment occurs, it will somehow create a combined gravitational effect between the Sun and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy (known as Sagittarius A*), thus creating havoc on Earth Apart from the fact noted above that the "galactic alignment" predicted by Jenkins already happened in 1998, the Sun's apparent path through the zodiac as seen from Earth does not take it near the true galactic center, but rather several degrees above it Even if this were not the case, Sagittarius A* is 30,000 light years from Earth, and would have to be more than 6 million times closer to cause any gravitational disruption to Earth's Solar System.This reading of Jenkins's theories was included on the History Channel documentary, Decoding the Past. However, Jenkins has complained of the fact that a science fiction writer co-authored the documentary, and went on to characterize it as "45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism".Some believers in a 2012 doomsday have used the term "galactic alignment" to describe a very different phenomenon proposed by some scientists to explain a pattern in mass extinctions supposedly observed in the fossil record. According to this hypothesis (termed the Shiva Hypothesis), mass extinctions are not random, but recur every 26 million years. To account for this, it suggests that vertical oscillations made by the Sun as it orbits the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galactic plane. When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galactic plane which bisects the galactic disc, the influence of thegalactic tide is weaker. However, when re-entering the galactic disc—as it does every 20–25 million years—it comes under the influence of the far stronger "disc tides", which, according to mathematical models, increase the flux of Oort cloud comets into the inner Solar System by a factor of 4, thus leading to a massive increase in the likelihood of a devastating comet impact However, this "alignment" takes place over tens of millions of years, and could never be timed to an exact date.Evidence shows that the Sun passed through the plane bisecting the galactic disc only three million years ago, and is now moving farther above it.A third suggested alignment is some sort of planetary conjunction occurring on December 21, 2012. However, there will be no alignment of planets on that date Multi-planet alignments did occur in both 2000 and 2010, each with no ill result for the Earth.Jupiteris the largest planet in the Solar System; larger than all other planets combined. When Jupiter is near opposition, the Earth experiences less than 1% the gravitational force it feels daily from the Moon.
Geomagnetic reversal
Another idea involves a geomagnetic reversal (often incorrectly referred to as a pole shift by proponents), possibly triggered by a massive solar flare, that would release an energy equal to 100 billion atomic bombs. This belief is supposedly supported by observations that the Earth's magnetic field is weakening, which could precede a reversal of the north and south magnetic poles.
Critics, however, claim that geomagnetic reversals take up to 7,000 years to complete, and do not start on any particular date.Furthermore, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that the solar maximum will peak in May 2013, not 2012, and that it will be fairly weak, with a below-average number of sunspots In any case, there is no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal, which is driven by forces entirely within the Earth Instead, a solar maximum would be mostly notable for its effects on satellite and cellular phone communications.David Morrison attributes the rise of the solar storm idea to physicist and science popularizerMichio Kaku, who claimed in an interview with Fox News that a solar peak in 2012 could be disastrous for orbiting satellites.
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range ofeschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21,2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed.A New Age interpretation of this transition postulates that during this time, Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, or Earth's collision with a black hole or a passing planet called "Nibiru".Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of catastrophe in 2012. MainstreamMayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the existing classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history.The modern Maya do not consider the date significant, and the classical sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory. Astronomers and other scientists have rejected the apocalyptic forecasts aspseudoscience, stating that the anticipated events are contradicted by simple astronomical
Doomsday theories
A far more apocalyptic view of the year 2012 that has spread in various media describes the end of the world or of human civilization on that date. This view has been promulgated by many hoax pages on the Internet, particularly onYouTube, and by the History Channel, with such series as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse(2007), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008). TheDiscovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massivesolar storms, magnetic pole reversal, earthquakes, supervolcanoes, and other drastic natural events may occur in 2012]Author Graham Hancock, in his book Fingerprints of the Gods, interpreted Coe's remarks inBreaking the Maya Code as evidence for the prophecy of a global cataclysm.
Other alignments
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range ofeschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21,2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed.A New Age interpretation of this transition postulates that during this time, Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, or Earth's collision with a black hole or a passing planet called "Nibiru".Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of catastrophe in 2012. MainstreamMayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the existing classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history.The modern Maya do not consider the date significant, and the classical sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory. Astronomers and other scientists have rejected the apocalyptic forecasts aspseudoscience, stating that the anticipated events are contradicted by simple astronomical
Doomsday theories
A far more apocalyptic view of the year 2012 that has spread in various media describes the end of the world or of human civilization on that date. This view has been promulgated by many hoax pages on the Internet, particularly onYouTube, and by the History Channel, with such series as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse(2007), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008). TheDiscovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massivesolar storms, magnetic pole reversal, earthquakes, supervolcanoes, and other drastic natural events may occur in 2012]Author Graham Hancock, in his book Fingerprints of the Gods, interpreted Coe's remarks inBreaking the Maya Code as evidence for the prophecy of a global cataclysm.
Other alignments
Some people have interpreted Jenkins's hypothesis apocalyptically, claiming that when the galactic alignment occurs, it will somehow create a combined gravitational effect between the Sun and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy (known as Sagittarius A*), thus creating havoc on Earth Apart from the fact noted above that the "galactic alignment" predicted by Jenkins already happened in 1998, the Sun's apparent path through the zodiac as seen from Earth does not take it near the true galactic center, but rather several degrees above it Even if this were not the case, Sagittarius A* is 30,000 light years from Earth, and would have to be more than 6 million times closer to cause any gravitational disruption to Earth's Solar System.This reading of Jenkins's theories was included on the History Channel documentary, Decoding the Past. However, Jenkins has complained of the fact that a science fiction writer co-authored the documentary, and went on to characterize it as "45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism".
Some believers in a 2012 doomsday have used the term "galactic alignment" to describe a very different phenomenon proposed by some scientists to explain a pattern in mass extinctions supposedly observed in the fossil record. According to this hypothesis (termed the Shiva Hypothesis), mass extinctions are not random, but recur every 26 million years. To account for this, it suggests that vertical oscillations made by the Sun as it orbits the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galactic plane. When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galactic plane which bisects the galactic disc, the influence of thegalactic tide is weaker. However, when re-entering the galactic disc—as it does every 20–25 million years—it comes under the influence of the far stronger "disc tides", which, according to mathematical models, increase the flux of Oort cloud comets into the inner Solar System by a factor of 4, thus leading to a massive increase in the likelihood of a devastating comet impact However, this "alignment" takes place over tens of millions of years, and could never be timed to an exact date.Evidence shows that the Sun passed through the plane bisecting the galactic disc only three million years ago, and is now moving farther above it.
A third suggested alignment is some sort of planetary conjunction occurring on December 21, 2012. However, there will be no alignment of planets on that date Multi-planet alignments did occur in both 2000 and 2010, each with no ill result for the Earth.Jupiteris the largest planet in the Solar System; larger than all other planets combined. When Jupiter is near opposition, the Earth experiences less than 1% the gravitational force it feels daily from the Moon.
Critics, however, claim that geomagnetic reversals take up to 7,000 years to complete, and do not start on any particular date.Furthermore, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that the solar maximum will peak in May 2013, not 2012, and that it will be fairly weak, with a below-average number of sunspots In any case, there is no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal, which is driven by forces entirely within the Earth Instead, a solar maximum would be mostly notable for its effects on satellite and cellular phone communications.David Morrison attributes the rise of the solar storm idea to physicist and science popularizerMichio Kaku, who claimed in an interview with Fox News that a solar peak in 2012 could be disastrous for orbiting satellites.
Main article: Nibiru collision
Some proponents of doomsday in 2012 claim that a planet called Planet X, or Nibiru, will collide with or pass by Earth in that year. This idea has appeared in various forms since 1995; the event was initially slated for 2003, but this date was abandoned after it passed without incident.The idea originated from claims of channeling of alien beings and has been widely ridiculed "Ask an Astrobiologist", a NASA public outreach website, has received over 5000 questions on the subject since 2007. Astronomers have calculated that such an object so close to Earth would be visible to anyone looking up at the night sky.
Other catastrophes
Other speculations regarding doomsday in 2012 have included predictions by the Web Bot project, a computer program that purports to predict the future using Internet chatter. However, commentators have rejected the programmers' claims to have successfully predicted natural disasters, which web chatter could never predict, as opposed to human-caused disasters like stock market crashes. Also, the 2012 date has been loosely tied to the long-running concept of the Photon Belt, which predicts a form of interaction between Earth and the largest star of the Pleiades cluster. Critics have argued that photons cannot form belts, that the Pleiades, being 40 light years away, could have no effect on Earth, and that the Solar System, rather than getting closer to the Pleiades, is in fact moving farther away from them.
Some media outlets have tied the possibility that the red supergiant star Betelgeuse may undergo a supernova at some point in the future to the 2012 phenomenon. However, while Betelgeuse is certainly in the final stages of its life, and will die as a supernova, there is no way to predict the timing of the event to within 100,000 years, let alone a specific day. To be a threat to Earth, a supernova would need to be as close as 25 light years to the Solar System. Betelgeuse is roughly 600 light years away, and so its supernova will not affect Earth in any way.
Another claim involves alien invasion. In December 2010, an article, first published inexaminer.com and later referenced in the English-language edition of Pravda claimed, citing a Second Digitized Sky Survey photograph as evidence, that SETI had detected three large spacecraft en route to Earth in 2012. Astronomer and debunker Phil Plait noted that by using the small-angle formula, one could determine that if the object in the photo was as large as claimed, it would have had to be closer to Earth than the Moon, which would mean it would already have arrived
References
- Major referance from wikipedia free Encyclopedia
- Argüelles, José (1992). The Transformative Vision: Reflections on the Nature and History of Human Expression (1st ed.). Flagstaff, AZ: Light Technology
- Argüelles, José (1987). The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions/Bear
- Aveni, Anthony; H. Hartung (2000). "Water, Mountain, Sky: The Evolution of Site Orientations in Southeastern Mesoamerica". In E. Quiñones Keber. Precious Greenstone Precious Feather. Lancaster, CA: Labyrinthos.
- Wagner, Elizabeth (2006). "Maya Creation Myths and Cosmography". In Nikolai Grube(ed.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias
- Waters, Frank (1975). Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth World of Consciousness. Chicago, Illinois
- Wright, Ronald (2005). Stolen Continents: 500 Years of Conquest and Resistance in the Americas.
- York, Michael (1995). The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements. Lanham
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