Telescope Reviews: Polar Shift

· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt

· Submit a Review / Article

Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums

Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User

You are not logged in. [Login]

Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online
FAQ · Calendar

Speciality Forums >> Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others

Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all)

echoes1961
member

Reged: 09/14/12

Polar Shift
#5580396 - 12/20/12 10:38 AM

Hey all..I was wondering if the earth experienced a polar shift (again), Do scientist or astronomers know more or less how much of a shift the earth would get?

And also how far a shift? Would we all of a sudden be able to view the southern skies?

It would be a very strange event, our sun moon & planets could be in our Northern skies here in America.

And finally, if there's going to be some sort of change or new event on Dec-21st....like the Mayans forecasted, I would think a polar shifting of the earth would fit the bill. Ya never know?

Thanks for reading.

Post Extras:

star drop
Snowed In

Reged: 02/02/08

Loc: Snow Plop, WNY

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5580420 - 12/20/12 10:49 AM

Quote:
"And also how far a shift? Would we all of a sudden be able to view the southern skies?"
A sudden shift of that magnitude would result in everything loosely attached to the Earth's surface continuing in motion at hundreds of miles per hour. One would indeed be seeing stars but not necessarily southern ones.

Post Extras:

hm insulators
Post Laureate

Reged: 01/22/07

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: star drop]
#5580444 - 12/20/12 11:09 AM

Quote:

Quote:
"And also how far a shift? Would we all of a sudden be able to view the southern skies?"
A sudden shift of that magnitude would result in everything loosely attached to the Earth's surface continuing in motion at hundreds of miles per hour. One would indeed be seeing stars but not necessarily southern ones.

Post Extras:

CJK
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/05/12

Loc: Scenic SE TN

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: hm insulators]
#5580458 - 12/20/12 11:15 AM

Quote:

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

I love Red Green!!

-- Chris

Post Extras:

BSJ
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 12/22/08

Loc: Grand Isle, VT

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: CJK]
#5580472 - 12/20/12 11:22 AM

Yes, We do know.

The "polar shift" is a shift in the magnetic pole. Not flipping the planet! The north arrow of a compass would point south. No more, no less.

It takes many hundreds of years to fully shift.

Nothing but silly fear-mongering to say otherwise.

Post Extras:

Seldom
sage

Reged: 08/05/12

Loc: Southwest Utah--Elev. 5700 ft.

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5580489 - 12/20/12 11:30 AM

Quote:

Hey all..I was wondering if the earth experienced a polar shift (again), Do scientist or astronomers know more or less how much of a shift the earth would get?

Just been reading about this. If you mean how much does Polaris move, it's continuous, about 1 degree every 70 years, but it's because the earth's axis wobbles because of the combined attraction of the sun and the moon. This has caused the equinox to move from Aries when the Greeks (and Babylonians?) were figuring this out to Pisces now.

The earth's magnetic field also moves from end to end (per BSJ) every few thousand years (10?,20?), but I don't know if this affects anything astronomical.

Post Extras:

PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/14/05

Loc: coastline of Belgium

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: Seldom]
#5580567 - 12/20/12 12:25 PM

The magnetic pole is always on the move. A complete pole reversal is a very rare event!
Best documentary on the subject = Is the magnetic pole about to flip? (2009 by Stéphane Nicolopoulos)

Post Extras:

Rick Woods
Postmaster

Reged: 01/27/05

Loc: Inner Solar System

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: BSJ]
#5580593 - 12/20/12 12:38 PM

Quote:

Yes, We do know.

The "polar shift" is a shift in the magnetic pole. Not flipping the planet! The north arrow of a compass would point south. No more, no less.

It takes many hundreds of years to fully shift.

Nothing but silly fear-mongering to say otherwise.

Wait - I thought the whole visible universe was supposed to suddenly rotate 180 degrees!

Post Extras:

Seldom
sage

Reged: 08/05/12

Loc: Southwest Utah--Elev. 5700 ft.

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: PhilCo126]
#5580609 - 12/20/12 12:43 PM

Quote:

A complete pole reversal is a very rare event!

Depends on your time frame. Looks to me like it happens all the time, just not during my time.

From WikiPedia:

Quote:

The rate of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field has varied widely over time. 72 million years ago (Ma), the field reversed 5 times in a million years. In a 4-million-year period centered on 54 Ma, there were 10 reversals; at around 42 Ma, 17 reversals took place in the span of 3 million years. In a period of 3 million years centering on 24 Ma, 13 reversals occurred. No fewer than 51 reversals occurred in a 12-million-year period, centering on 15 million years ago. Two reversals occurred during a span of 50,000 years. These eras of frequent reversals have been counterbalanced by a few "superchrons" – long periods when no reversals took place.

Post Extras:

SkipW
sage

Reged: 02/03/11

Loc: Oklahoma, USA

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: Seldom]
#5580756 - 12/20/12 02:00 PM

Don't forget the continents on their tectonic plates are moving with respect to the axis of the earth at a few cm/year. It will take a while before we get significantly different views due to this, however.

Post Extras:

echoes1961
member

Reged: 09/14/12

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: SkipW]
#5580772 - 12/20/12 02:08 PM

I'm thinking more along the lines of the whole planet moving back to a 90 degrees. Right now the earth is at a 23 degree angle so that is why we have the four seasons as the earth travels around the sun. If it were to right-itself there would be no more seasons? Sorry if that doesn't make sense but it's something like that?

So that's the polar shifting I'm thinking of...the planet moving, and if the planet moves so will the magnatic field and there will be only one season per-year.

Post Extras:

BSJ
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 12/22/08

Loc: Grand Isle, VT

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5580834 - 12/20/12 02:47 PM

"moving back to a 90 degrees" Not going to happen.

Post Extras:

GlennLeDrew
Postmaster

Reged: 06/18/08

Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: BSJ]
#5580897 - 12/20/12 03:21 PM

The sheer momentum or our rotating planet cannot allow 'sudden' shifts in its rotation axis on any significant scale. Big events such as the massive earthquake in Japan do cause shifts on the order of centimeters, which corresponds to an angular change of something like 1/10 of an arcsecond. That's about the degree of change we could ever see in a lifetime. Our axial tilt of 23-1/2 degrees has been maintained for many millions of years. The movement of the continental plates as they slip and slide over the mantle is *vastly* greater and more significant.

Where do people come up with these notions of such cataclysmic changes as sudden axial shifts of many degrees? Simply because of our very limited lifespan; our limited horizon timewise can lead to the erroneous internalization of our existence marking a significant interval of time in the course of things. (Man-induced effects such as climate change excepted.)

Post Extras:

mich_al
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/10/09

Loc: Rural central lower Michigan ...

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5580936 - 12/20/12 03:44 PM

Quote:

Hey all..I was wondering if the earth experienced a polar shift (again), Do scientist or astronomers know more or less how much of a shift the earth would get?

And also how far a shift? Would we all of a sudden be able to view the southern skies?

It would be a very strange event, our sun moon & planets could be in our Northern skies here in America.

And finally, if there's going to be some sort of change or new event on Dec-21st....like the Mayans forecasted, I would think a polar shifting of the earth would fit the bill. Ya never know?

Thanks for reading.

Is it April 1 already ???

Post Extras:

Qwickdraw
sage

Reged: 03/03/12

Loc: Ann Arbor, Mi

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5581007 - 12/20/12 04:26 PM

Quote:

I'm thinking more along the lines of the whole planet moving back to a 90 degrees. Right now the earth is at a 23 degree angle so that is why we have the four seasons as the earth travels around the sun. If it were to right-itself there would be no more seasons? Sorry if that doesn't make sense but it's something like that?

So that's the polar shifting I'm thinking of...the planet moving, and if the planet moves so will the magnatic field and there will be only one season per-year.

There is also another reason for the seasons which is the Earth's distance from the sun. Although it only accounts for a few percentage points of temperature change and in the northern hemisphere's current summer we are furthest from the sun.

Post Extras:

echoes1961
member

Reged: 09/14/12

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: Qwickdraw]
#5581413 - 12/20/12 08:34 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I'm thinking more along the lines of the whole planet moving back to a 90 degrees. Right now the earth is at a 23 degree angle so that is why we have the four seasons as the earth travels around the sun. If it were to right-itself there would be no more seasons? Sorry if that doesn't make sense but it's something like that?

So that's the polar shifting I'm thinking of...the planet moving, and if the planet moves so will the magnatic field and there will be only one season per-year.

There is also another reason for the seasons which is the Earth's distance from the sun. Although it only accounts for a few percentage points of temperature change and in the northern hemisphere's current summer we are furthest from the sun.

Yes.. but the angle of the earth is the main game changer when it comes to temperature. That's why it would be cool to get the earth upright and not on a slant. I mean why do we have to have 4 seasons?

Actually since the earth is closer to the sun in the winter time, it would be called summer if the earth was at 90 degrees, and summer is when the sun is actually farther away in distance so we would have to switch things around. Kind of weird how much that would change things.
Plus we would have exactly 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of night....everything would equal out for the most part. Makes ya think?

Post Extras:

Rick Woods
Postmaster

Reged: 01/27/05

Loc: Inner Solar System

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5581656 - 12/20/12 11:18 PM

No, it doesn't. It is called summer in the southern hemisphere.
Anyway, I like seasons.

Post Extras:

Qwickdraw
sage

Reged: 03/03/12

Loc: Ann Arbor, Mi

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5582121 - 12/21/12 09:18 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

I'm thinking more along the lines of the whole planet moving back to a 90 degrees. Right now the earth is at a 23 degree angle so that is why we have the four seasons as the earth travels around the sun. If it were to right-itself there would be no more seasons? Sorry if that doesn't make sense but it's something like that?

So that's the polar shifting I'm thinking of...the planet moving, and if the planet moves so will the magnatic field and there will be only one season per-year.

There is also another reason for the seasons which is the Earth's distance from the sun. Although it only accounts for a few percentage points of temperature change and in the northern hemisphere's current summer we are furthest from the sun.

Yes.. but the angle of the earth is the main game changer when it comes to temperature. That's why it would be cool to get the earth upright and not on a slant. I mean why do we have to have 4 seasons?

Actually since the earth is closer to the sun in the winter time, it would be called summer if the earth was at 90 degrees, and summer is when the sun is actually farther away in distance so we would have to switch things around. Kind of weird how much that would change things.
Plus we would have exactly 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of night....everything would equal out for the most part. Makes ya think?

I am kinda thinking that it was designed perfectly the way it is.

Post Extras:

ColoHank
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/07/07

Loc: western Colorado

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: Qwickdraw]
#5582303 - 12/21/12 11:20 AM

I'm thinking it wasn't designed. It just is, and we're well adapted to it, if not perfectly so. Call it the luck of the draw.

Post Extras:

Rick Woods
Postmaster

Reged: 01/27/05

Loc: Inner Solar System

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: ColoHank]
#5583126 - 12/21/12 07:49 PM

Actually, sometimes the pole does shift around.
Who was the first to the north pole; Byrd? Peary? Amundsen? I don't remember, but I heard somewhere that it was shifting all around then, and they had a hell of a time running around after it, trying to pin that candy-cane marker right on it.

Post Extras:

Scott Horstman
Vendor - Backyard Observatories

Reged: 03/11/04

Loc: Too Far North, USA

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: Rick Woods]
#5583136 - 12/21/12 08:01 PM

It took a jump a few years ago to the West. So much so with that and the movement over the years, Miami airport had to re-do the orientation on it's runways.
When we moved in to our house 8 years ago the magnetic deviation was 4 and now it's 7 degrees.

Post Extras:

llanitedave
Humble Megalomaniac

Reged: 09/26/05

Loc: Amargosa Valley, NV, USA

Re: Polar Shift new

[Re: echoes1961]
#5583368 - 12/21/12 11:16 PM

Quote:

I'm thinking more along the lines of the whole planet moving back to a 90 degrees. Right now the earth is at a 23 degree angle so that is why we have the four seasons as the earth travels around the sun. If it were to right-itself there would be no more seasons? Sorry if that doesn't make sense but it's something like that?

So that's the polar shifting I'm thinking of...the planet moving, and if the planet moves so will the magnatic field and there will be only one season per-year.

try this Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

Quote:

For the past 5 million years, Earth's obliquity has varied between 22° 02' 33" and 24° 30' 16", with a mean period of 41,040 years. This cycle is a combination of precession and the largest term in the motion of the ecliptic. For the next 1 million years, the cycle will carry the obliquity between 22° 13' 44" and 24° 20' 50".

Post Extras:

Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all)

Extra information

0 registered and 3 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator: LivingNDixie, Jarad, WaterMaster

Print Thread

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Thread views: 1075

Jump to

CN Forums

Home

Cloudy Nights LLC
Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics