When will the planets align with the center of the galaxy?

Question

first i heard they do in 2012, then i heard they dont in 2012 and if they dont in 2012 when do they?

Answer 1

The 2012 stuff you've been hearing is nonsense cooked up by folks who want to scare people or sell books (or both).  Nothing earth-shattering is going to happen in 2012, and in 2013 we'll be hearing about the next round of doomsday predictions.

I don't know if the planets ever align with the center of the galaxy--that's impossible unless the plane of the solar system happens to point along the plane of the galaxy, which isn't likely.  Planets do align with one another in the Solar System from time to time; it's called conjunction, I believe.  But they're never perfect conjunctions, just all the planets are roughly in line.

And there's nothing special or mystic about planetary alignments.  The gravitational effect on Earth of ALL the planets combined is a tiny fraction of the Moon's gravitation, because the planets are so much farther away.  (The tidal effect of the planets is even smaller.)  Basically, planetary alignments are cool because they give you a chance to see lots of good stuff in the sky with your backyard telescope.  But nothing special happens during planetary alignments.

Answer 2

they won't.

casual inspection of a star chart will show you that. look for where the ecliptic crosses the plane of the galaxy in sagittarius. the centre of the galaxy is 6 degrees away from there.

Answer 3

the Solar System has a bit of a tilt to its orbital plane, slightly off the plane of the Milky Way's.

so, never.

you down with that, dawg?

Answer 4

next Thursday.

Answer 5

There's no mechanism to tip the solar system to align with the galaxy plane.  Certainly none that can do anything interesting by 2012.

The other 2012 ideas are similarly flawed.  Really, you can stop looking at them now.

Answer 6

Your logic might be flawless but your information is cactus.  On 21 December 2012 if you are looking at the Sun from the Earth at noon, Venus and Mercury will be at about 1 o'clock high, Mars will be off to the left at around 10 o'clock high, Jupiter will be almost directly behind you.  Uranus, Neptune and Saturn will also be scattered about.  

A line-up of all the planets with the Sun is not possible since the planets do not orbit in the same plane.  It is roughly the same (except for Pluto Sedna etc) but it is each is tilted slightly compared to another.  If you wanted them in the closest possible line up, don't hold your breath.  It isn't likely to happen for tens of thousands of times longer than the Universe has existed.

The plane of the Earth's orbit is called the ecliptic.  It is tilted in comparison to the average plane of the galaxy so the Earth, Sun and galactic centre cannot line up.  So the answer is 'never'.

Questions about 2012 had been asked on Y!A more than 12,000 times by early last month.  

Answer 7

Planetary alignment happens frequently in cosmological terms.  It happened back in the seventies.  And it will happen again and again well past the 2012 BS.  Relax, breath, all is well.

Answer 8

No planet, whether seen from the Earth or the Sun can align with the centre of the galaxy because the orientation of their orbits prevents it. Anything you may read about 2012 and planetary or galactic alignments can be safely dismissed as hogwash. The planet which comes nearest to aligning with the centre of the galaxy is Venus which can come within 1 degree of it. Even if it did align, so what? Is a beam of energy supposed to zap across the galaxy and destroy the Earth or something?