[SantaClaus]

Hypothetical for scientific types:

You walk outside at night and the star positions don't quite look right. Jupiter seems higher in the sky than you remember. Polaris seems lower.

HOW would you go about verifying/disproving that a pole shift had occurred?

Internet forums? Sextant and astronomy manuals? GPS receiver? Listen for the beying of packs of ravenous hounds from hell? Discuss...

[Stacypettlerr]

I was going to say that I would watch to see which side of the tree the moss is growing on but I don't think thats going to do it.

Ok so question. What kind of pole shift are you talking about. A magnetic pole shift or a physical north south switcheroo?

[SantaClaus]

I was going to say that I would watch to see which side of the tree the moss is growing on but I don't think thats going to do it.

Ok so question. What kind of pole shift are you talking about. A magnetic pole shift or a physical north south switcheroo?

A geographical pole shift - where the 2 "stationary" points (corresponding to the ends of the axis of rotation) move to different geographical points on the Earth, due to the surface (crust) slipping with respect to the liquid interior.

[eljugadordepoquer]

I'd have to think about it. My first thought is, travel to the nearest megalith and see if the stars line up properly with it. Which in itself is an interesting thing to think about....

[Stacypettlerr]

I would flush the toilet and see which way the water was vortexing. Is vortexing even a word?

[arindiruppyr]

something strange woke me up this morning... could it have been a pole shift?

[boxcigsnick]

something strange woke me up this morning... could it have been a pole shift?

There is a joke there somewhere... but I wont go there! 8-)

[softy54534]

There is a joke there somewhere... but I wont go there! 8-)

i almost went there but i didnt also

[xpllmr]

something strange woke me up this morning... could it have been a pole shift?

It was just a friendly good morning poke.

[xpllmr]

If I wake up one morning and discover the sun is just setting, I'm gonna make a pilgrimage to Silver Art Bars cave and ask him what's going on.

[Ruidselisse]

If it was a geographical pole shift wouldn't there be massive earthquakes accompanying it?

[leoto5Fm]

is on the other side of town from

[JessePex]

The easiest way is to get a camera set up on time lapse, or ultra slow speed filming, and set it up on a tri-pod with the North start set as the very center.

The pole axis that we are on now (If it hasn't shifted recently without us notincing) is in such a fashion that the North star will stay located in the center of the picture, while all the other stars will rotate around it as the world turns.

Look at the North star like the centre pin on a record player.

In the center of this picture is the North star. This is why it's used for navigation. It is located truely axial north, not magnetic north.



It would be easy to see if we were off axis, even for a blue collar.

EDIT: This only works if you're in the Northern Hemisphere. If you're in the southern, you need to use the Southern Cross Constilation, and it is not centered axially the same way as the North Star, so it would go in a circle as well, but close to the center, and in the opposite direction.

[JessePex]

I think it's important for people to understand how to find the North star because it is a constant. I foudn this huge star map on some Chinese website, and Circled the pertinent stars in the "Big dipper" and Cassiopeia constellations, and the North star itself.

The way I always remember it is like a game of "Wiffle ball" (Or ball & Cup). I picture Cassiopeia as a slingshot, and the Big dipper is a catcher cup. The North star is like the ball in motion, thrown by Cassiopeia towards the Big dipper.

Most survival books talk about using the distance of the bottom two stars in the Dipper cup, and multiplying that distance by 5 in a curved line to find the North star. (Shown in the green lines) I personally wanted to have another way to find it, because one night in the middle of winter I was in the bush at 2am and I couldn't see the big Dipper because it was below the treeline. I had no other way to determine which way north was.



At that time I was camping/hunting with a friend who knew the lay of the land, but I realized I needed multiple ways to know where to find it because I would have been screwed if I was lost and alone and needed to find North, so I figured out the cup and ball method. Next I will memorize some other constellations in the other directions around it as well.


EDIT to add this link to the original star map image before I edited it:
http://map.vbgood.com/star-map/northern-star-map2.htm

[unmalryAlalry]

'Science' should first clarify are you concerned with Jupiter moving OR a pole shift on earth (and be specific about what type of pole shift).
Or is this really about Jove?

http://www.pressherald.com/life/outd...011-09-25.html
Jupiter will be the star of the night sky throughout the fall and into winter. The king of the planets will reach opposition on Oct. 28, when it will rise at sunset and not set until sunrise. It will be at its closest and brightest that night for the year. Other than last year, Jupiter will reach its closest opposition in nearly 50 years this month. It is now in southwestern Aries and is moving retrograde, or westward against the fixed background of stars.

[JessePex]

I tried to find a cleaner picture of the sky at night to show you without all those lines and symbols on the Chinese version I posted above, and I found this:



So that saves me from re-doing another one in windows paint.

But while I was looking, I found another really nice photo that I wanted to show you. I was originally going to use it as a test for any interested readers, to ask which way the photographer was facing when the photo was snapped, but the light from the setting sun is a dead give away.

However if the light wasn't there, based on the position of Cassiopeia in relation to the North star, you would know that the photographer was facing North/West/West when they snapped the pic.

[BonjGopu]

My pole shift got in the way of me rolling out of bed this morning.

Actually, I noticed a slight change in Jupiter's locale a few weeks ago, I thought maybe it was due to the approaching equinox. They say the Jap earthquake did cause a slight shift in magnetic north.

[eljugadordepoquer]

But while I was looking, I found another really nice photo that I wanted to show you. I was originally going to use it as a test for any interested readers, to ask which way the photographer was facing when the photo was snapped, but the light from the setting sun is a dead give away.

However if the light wasn't there, based on the position of Cassiopeia in relation to the North star, you would know that the photographer was facing North/West/West when they snapped the pic.

So is this the north star?

[JessePex]

The more I look at this picture, the harder it is to tell if I am seeing it in perspective. It's so much easier to see in person outside than it is to tell from a photo, but I beileve that the star you circled is part of Cassiopeia as follows:


Nightsky cassiopeia.JPG

But the more I stare at it and try to verify it, the more I start to think that I am seeing a constellation that is similar to Cassiopeia, but not it...

Haha, feeling stupid...

If I had you out at night, no problem...

[uwJzsM8t]

I was basing it off of cassiopeia being as shown here: