elenin faq for the worried

Is 2012 Doomsday to occur instead in October 2011? Universe Today presents Astroblogger Ian Musgrave's FAQ fact sheet about Comet Elenin to dismiss nonsense and quell concerns. Musgrave points out we've been closer to other comets with no ill effects. Elenin's tidal force will be one billionth of the Moon's effect on the Earth. Musgrave does a good job to marshall facts, dismissing hysteria of "Doom and Gloom Brigades". Musgrave uses Sky Map to argue alignments were nowhere near the times of the Chilean earthquake or the Tsunami that hit Japan. The article also points out, "we have been through bigger and denser comet tails before with no effect whatsoever," the Great Comet of 1861 is used for comparison. "For a while the Earth was actually within the comet's tail, and the inhabitants of this planet had a brief but giddy view of streams of cometary material converging towards the distant nucleus. By day also the Sun was dimmed as the Earth plowed through the comet's gas and dust."

Musgrave's FAQ sheet is, on the surface, a well-organized attempt to dismiss concerns about Comet Elenin on a point by point basis. A link is provided to a recent Astronomy Beat issue (pdf) with David Morrison of the NASA Ames Research Center, comforting the public there's no need for concern. An image linked is of a second object in the sky (pictured), which is dismissed as lens flare. A recent video from Neumayer Research Station is much harder to ignore, however. Public concern is not completely without merit. A simple observation should be kept in mind that Earth's orbit, will take it near a comet--a real object of ice and rock. The tail may be as near a complete vacuum and still show up as a coma as the fact sheet argues, but each comet possesses individual composition and each comet pass a unique combination of forces. Comet Elenin will pass closer to the Moon and may influence our satellite in unanticipated ways. We are near the galactic plane and increased gravitational forces, are a possibility. The coherent catastrophism hypothesis remains only a faint possibility but a distinct one.

The Universe Today blog entry provides valuable links for those interested in astronomy such as Stellarium, a free planetarium program. The fact sheet represents an astronomy lesson in one visit and worthwhile. The present writer finds images of the Svalbard seed vault and the growth industry of underground housing construction, remain stuck in the back of the mind. You have to ask if there's no concern why the efforts?  These projects do represent preparations for a catastrophic event.  Does it also explain the current geopolitical irresponsibility as well?

comets and coherent catastrophism: elenin and great comet of 1811

Are there similarities between the Great Comet of 1811 and Elenin? There is a buzz on the net about parallels between the two comets such as flooding, low sun activity, a cold winter and earthquakes. "Most geologists and scientists believe that most earthquakes occur during new and full moons. With new moons the most likely. But when you have new and full moons on days that also equal their apogee or perigee, then you have a 'supermoon', this is what some of them, Jim Berkland for example, believe is the window for the most dangerous...in Oct., we have a full moon on the 11th, with the moon apogee on Oct 12th. We have a new moon on Oct 26th, but we also have the moon perigee on, yep, Oct 26th. Now, the JPL say that comet Elenin will make its closest approach on Oct 16th. Right in the middle of the full and new moon and the apogee and perigee, leading up to the 26th that is the new moon, perigee, and passing comet all on the same day. Not saying it means anything but kinda makes you wonder?" The last observations do make for an interesting October! Comet Elenin reaches closest approach to Earth on Oct. 16th in the middle of the full and new moons, apogee and perigee, which provide additional gravitational stresses on a heavenly body such as a comet. An event where the Earth crosses a comet's path leads to a hypothesis called coherent catastrophism.

The hypothesis attempts to account for past destruction observed on the Earth and Moon.   Catastrophism is an idea the inner solar system is subjected, at times, to destructive events as a result of incoming comets from the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. The comets are drawn into the inner solar system due to a black hole at the Milky Way's center.   An increased gravitational force is exerted by the black hole as our solar system crosses the galactic ecliptic. More specifically, it's a hypothesis that gravitational forces due to alignments break up a comet and fragments impact the Earth over a short period of time with cataclysmic results. It's termed coherent because several "impactors" result from the breakup of a single object and arrive together over a short time span.

Is this the real terror behind the Elenin hype? Indigenous peoples throughout history have considered comets as harbingers of evil. Are we to experience a comet apocalypse in October? Are there possibly other agendas at work with ulterior motives such as the need to build a defensive response to destroy Near Earth Objects (NEOs) that threaten us with destruction?