Planet X and the end of the world in 2012

[sourboy]

Hmm, if the Earth became bottom heavy, wouldn't that cause the Earth to fall? So it would drop out of its orbit and head downward, away from the solar system.

Whether the Earth is top heavy or bottom heavy, it's mass is the same in respect to the sun and it's orbit around it. There would be no change there... only a polar shift or degree of tilt on it's axis would result, at best.

 

[Phlegmak]

Whether the Earth is top heavy or bottom heavy, it's mass is the same in respect to the sun and it's orbit around it. There would be no change there... only a polar shift or degree of tilt on it's axis would result, at best.

I knew this would happen.

Spoiler :

It was a joke!

 

[TheLastOne36]

Oh, I was thinking magnetic poles... Yeah that's a very different matter...

Theoretically possible... but only with a large impact that would likely pulverize the Earth (no more life, no more continents, no starvation). Also, the Moon helps to stabilize Earth's Rotational Axis anyway... so... yeah....

Actually, they found out that Life will always exist on Earth no matter what, (as long as no planet destroying object collides with us). That is because of Bacteria and Fungus that lives way, way deep in the ground below the sea floor. No heat from an asteroird impact could reach that far down, which permits life to exist forever. Even if all life on Earth's surface is vaporized, the life will eventually come up into the sea's again.

Infact it's been proven to happen around 5 times in Earth's history, all the life gone, and the life down there coming back up.

Really makes you think, how insignificant we are on the earth.

 

[Berzerker]

Jupiter is a gas giant. Jupiter is also far more massive than any terrestrial, including the Earth (which is the largest one in our solar system); the amount of debris which would result from a collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object would have very little effect on Jupiter's mass.

Thats true, but the proto Earth was larger and the release of material would be immense. Look around the solar system at the surfaces of bodies, all them craters etc came from the debris created by the collision (well, not all, but pre 4 bya craters are rather rare from what we know so far). Jupiter undoubtedly gathered up a bunch of that material. The point remains, the "failed planet" theory is based on Jupiter being as big as it is now back when the inner planets were forming 4.5 bya; and that Jupiter "prevented" a planet from forming at the asteroid belt, even though the other inner planets formed nonetheless. Jupiter doesn't explain the orbital inclinations of the asteroids, an impact sending the Earth here does (I think) I recall looking at orbital info on the asteroids and they formed a disc pointing in our direction, kinda like how Saturn's rings point to Pluto at perihelion. The outer bodies are more inclined and as we move inward across the belt toward us they become less inclined. in close enough proportion to be pointing at us.

 

[Berzerker]

You do know that debris can be ejected out of its orbit, right?

Yes, so can planets hit by Mars sized objects

By that theory we should see a planet's worth of debris flying around in wildly varying orbits. We dont see that... Most of the asteroids are in the asteroid belt and the belt itself is sloped.