Is there an Alignment between the Galactic Equator and the Sun at Winter Solstice 2012?:

Hmm this is very interesting and seems to take away some from the widely held belief that there is some significant activity on this date in 2012.I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens.I have no personal knowledge of astronomy or Mayan calendars just wanted to let those who want the info to know it.

Maya Galactic Alignment 2012 [21 Dec 2012]
-------------------------------------------------------------​-------------------


-------------------------------------------------------------​-------------------

Definition: [Astrological Ages] The idea that the current 'age' of the Mayan 'Long Count' calendar was designed by them to end on 21-Dec-2012 because that is the date of a Winter Solstice alignment of the Sun and the Galaxy. This idea was first promoted by John Major Jenkins in his book Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 [published in 1998]. The steps of the argument appear to be as follows:

1: The Maya used what is now called a 'Long Count' calendar, of which the current longest cycle is dated to end on the 21 December 2012.
2: The Maya particularly picked an end date of this cycle [rather than a start date] because they had calculated that on that date the Sun would be in the 'exact center of the Milky Way, the Galactic Equator' [1]. In Mayan thought this 'dark cleft of the Milky Way' [1] had particular mythical significance.
3: In order to set this end date the Maya must have been able to calculate very exactly the Precession of the Equinoxes, because it is this phenomenon which appears to move the Winter Solstice Sun around the Ecliptic to be in the significant place in 2012.


I am not qualified to comment on arguments (1) and (2). However, as to argument (3) Mr Jenkins notes that 'The Maya are not generally credited with knowing about the Precession of the Equinoxes' [1]. And indeed we have absolutely no evidence that the Maya knew anything about Precession.

However, we can at least look at the described 2012 alignment in two ways: (a) Is there in fact a Galactic Equator alignment of the Sun at Winter Solstice in 2012, and (b) if there is, is this something we should find significant?

Is there an Alignment between the Galactic Equator and the Sun at Winter Solstice 2012?:

No.

In fact there is an alignment between the Sun and the Galactic Equator at the time of Winter Solstice, but it has already happened. It happened back in 1997 [21st December 1997 AD 14h 43m GMT]. So, if the Maya did go through the sequence of the argument given above, their astrological predictions were out by some 15 years. [Which actually would be pretty good, seeing as they didn't have computers or astrological software to help them.]

So the good news is if you were in any way worried about what might astrologically happen in 2012, don't worry: it already happened back in 1997.

[Note: the Sun never aligns with the Galactic Center itself, because the Sun's path through the heavens, as seen from Earth [the Ecliptic] lies more than 5° above the Galactic Center. This is something that Mr Jenkins himself has pointed out, but the fact has become garbled in subsequent coverage of his ideas.]



Winter Solstice Animation 1992 - 2020. How to understand the Star Map: The line which goes top left to bottom right is the Galactic Equator. The Sun starts slightly to the left of the Equator at the time of Winter Solstice in 1992 and at Winter Solstice 1997 reaches alignment. By 2012 it's 15 years past alignment, and the disc of the Sun moves completely off the Galactic Equator by 2020. [The horizontal line is the Ecliptic and the other features are nebula which lie in this area of the Milky Way]. [Warning this animation is some 400 kB in size.]

Should we Consider an Alignment between the Galactic Equator and the Sun to be Significant?:

It seems very unlikely

[link to www.geocities.com]