As we told you in this space a month ago, the world is in no danger of ending on December 21, 2012 — contrary to anything you might be hearing recently.

If your friends and family are worried about the impending disaster — supposedly based on an ancient Mayan prophecy — we have the stuff you need to tell them. To make a long story short, December 21, 2012, really is a big flip-the-page date in the ancient Mayans' calendar — but they didn't believe the world would end then. And all the planetary and galactical lineups that doom-mongers are trying to associate with that date are flat-out wrong. Noted archaeoastronomer E. C. Krupp explains all the details, and the history of this mania, in the November 2009 issue of Sky & Telescope. The November issue is no longer available on newsstands, so we're making Krupp's article available as a PDF.

While you're at it, read S&T editor-in-chief Robert Naeye's article about cosmic disasters that actually could happen — but aren't likely to within the lifetime of anyone reading this.

Click here to download a 1-Mb PDF of Krupp's article on the 2012 scare.
Click here to download a 1.5-Mb PDF of Naeye's article on real dangers.