The Mayans might have been trying to get a few extra headlines with doomsday scenarios, but astronomy professors say they are “completely unreal.”
This year’s winter solstice — Dec. 21, 2012 — has long been known to be the last day on the Mayan calendar and has been associated with popular end-of-the-world theories.
Theories range from planetary alignments causing solar flares to Earth passing through “the dark rift” on this predicted Armageddon.
“It’s conspiracy theorists just going at it,” said George Eberts, assistant professor in Ohio University’s department of physics and astronomy. “There is no more chance of anything happening on Dec. 21 this year than on any Dec. 21 you have been alive or any Dec. 21 before in the history of man.”
Many times, these claims of alignment are based on astrology — the belief system — and not astronomy, the science, Eberts said.
“There isn’t really any alignment going on, but it looks like there is on an astrology chart,” Eberts said. “Astronomers are concerned about what they are really doing. We aren’t charting things for a horoscope.”
Even if the planets were to align, it would not provoke any sort of reaction from the sun, Eberts said.
“My thoughts: Nothing is going to happen,” said Douglas Clowe, assistant professor of astrophysics at OU. “The planets simply do not exert enough gravitational pull to cause things like solar flares, et cetera. The chances of some natural catastrophe occurring on Dec. 21 are no larger than it is for any other day.”
Clowe also said the gravitational pull of other planets can change the earth’s climate, but only over a period of millions of years. There is no way this pull could cause a catastrophe on a single day.
Astronomers by-and-large ignore the conspiracy theorist stuff, Eberts said.
“In the case of 2012, it was really hard to (ignore them),” Eberts said. “I didn’t want to. I think that it is more fun to talk about that stuff myself, but that doesn’t mean there is any credence to the claims.”
Eberts mentioned another doomsday theory, known as the galactic alignment. The theory states that at dawn Dec. 21, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and become embedded in the “dark rift,” which some theorists say would destroy the sun.
“This one is completely made up by the conspiracy theorists,” Eberts said. “The dark rift, which does exist, and the center of the galaxy are there all the time, and the sun goes through that neighborhood every December. The idea that the winter solstice has anything to do with it at all is completely unreal.”
Though the science may not support the theories, some are taking advantage of the doomsday hype to throw themed parties.
“We were trying to come up with Fall Quarter events, and we just came up with a big list, one of which was doomsday,” said Kari Nickell, University Program Council Special Events executive and a senior studying strategic communications. “I took that idea and rolled with it. It was a lot of fun to look into that aspect of the doomsday preppers.”
UPC held the “Doomsday: Celebrate Like There’s No To-Maya” event at The Pigskin, 38 N. Court St., on Thursday. The event had raffles to win doomsday survival packs, a photo contest with the grim reaper and a foil-hat making contest.
The bar even created a special doomsday drink, a shot called The Stormcloud, for the event, Nickell said.
All of the doomsday hoopla doesn’t turn Nickell into a believer, however.
“I don’t think the world is going to end,” Nickell said. “The Mayan calendar doesn’t take leap years into effect. I don’t think it’s going to end quite yet.”
With that in mind, Eberts has a message for students due to come back to Athens in January.
“Bottom line: You better pay your January rent and Spring Semester tuition,” he said.
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