14 DAY TRIAL // With a Google search on anything related to December 21, 2012 returning tens of millions of hit, it's easy to see that many people are concerned that the world will somehow end at that time. NASA experts say that such a catastrophe will not be caused by the proposed planet Nibiru.
Nor will a potential end of the world be caused by the fact that the Mayan long-count calendar will end on December 21 next year. Believing this is just the same as believing that the world will end because the Gregorian calendars we use today reach December 31.
Like any other calendar, the Mayan long-count is meant to signify the end of a certain time frame. If it ends on December 21, then a new one will begin on December 22. This particular calendar is exactly 5,125 years long, Space reports.
The Mayans also have a short-count calendar, which lasts only 52 years, as well as a yearly calendar, lasting the regular 365 days. Therefore, there is absolutely no (rational) reason to fear any sort of catastrophe based on the fact that one of these three calendars finishes counting time.
However, many people seem to be afraid of the so-called planet Nibiru, which should supposedly sweep in from the outer fringes of the solar system and collide with Earth, bringing about total annihilation. This would make for a great 3D movie, but has little to do with reality.
An object the size of Nibiru would leave heavy marks on the way planets are arranged in the solar system. The idea that it only passes through the inner solar system at large intervals is absurd, because it would leave trails to mark its presence.
Some say that it is hiding behind the Sun, but that too is impossible, says the manager of the NASA Near-Earth Object program office, Don Yeomans. His group is based at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California.
Another idea that seems to have caught on is that the Earth will be destroyed because the Sun will pass in front of the galactic plane on that date. However, this happens twice every year, and there is no reason to suspect things will be any different on December 21, 2012.
Yeomans laughed when asked about whether NASA was involved in a global conspiracy to cover up the existence of Nibiru. “There's no way on Earth to keep astronomers quiet about anything,” he said.
The expert concluded by saying that there is no planetary alignment scheduled for December 21, 2012, despite popular belief to the contrary. Even if there was such a situation, the gravitational effects of other planets on our own would be negligible.
The Sun and the Moon are the only objects that influence Earth to a measurable extent, especially in terms of gravity and tidal forces.