2012 Mayan Calendar 'Doomsday' Date Might Be Wrong

astroengine writes "A UC Santa Barbara associate professor is disputing the accuracy of the mesoamerican 'Long Count' calendar after highlighting several astronomical flaws in a correlation factor used to synchronize the ancient Mayan calendar with our modern Gregorian calendar. If proven to be correct, Gerardo Aldana may have nudged the infamous December 21, 2012 'End of the World' date out by at least 60 days. Unfortunately, even if the apocalypse is rescheduled, doomsday theorists will unlikely take note."

Not really doomsday

[canajin56]

The most damning evidence against the "doomsday" is the fact that at least one Mayan king wrote about how he hoped people will still celebrate him in, then he gave a date, a date several thousand years after the end of the Mayan long calendar. So, did he not get the memo that the world would have been destroyed thousands of years before that date? Was he just oblivious? Seems contrary to assume he was clueless, since the only reason we think the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world is the assumption that they were all-knowing and all-seeing, by virtue of not being us.

60 days? Really

[medv4380]

Given that the calendar is based on the winter solstice and the rollover occurs on every winter solstice. The Gregorian calendar is flawed in tracking the solstice because it floats just enough because it's not based on a perfect solar year but it's close enough. 60 days off is kind of absurd since it would put it no were near the soltices or equinox that were used. I'd believe that they had the wrong year 2011 vs 2013 or 2012 but wrong astrological event? hardly

Re:Actually they didn't

[ArcherB]

Add to that the fact that they couldn't predict the Spanish coming over and ending their world.

The end is inevitable...

[joeyblades]

Not the end of the planet, solar system, galaxy, universe, time or whatever is supposed to occur in 2012 (of course, those things will inevitably end, as well). However the inevitable end that I'm referring to is the end of a period of time that can be represented by a calender. I have never understood why the end of the Mayan calendar has to be the end of anything... I mean, The Dilbert calender on my desk ends on December 31st of this year... I wonder if I should attach any cosmic significance to that?