Jan
15
How Long Ago Was the Magnetic Pole Shift Which Changed Earth’s North Star From Vega to Polaris?
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Polaris is currently earth’s “pole star.” At some point in the distant past, there was a pole shift of earth’s magnetic north pole. Before that shift, Vega was earth’s pole star. How long ago did that pole shift occur?
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3 Comments
January 15th, 2010 at 3:16 am
You are a little confused on the earth’s poles. The changing magnetic pole does not affect the north star, but the changing physical north pole is what does.
You are thinking about the precession of the Earth’s rotation axis. The entire cycle takes about 26,000 years.
January 15th, 2010 at 3:25 am
No thats cant be right, the pole star has nothing to do with magnetic north, just the real geographical north pole. I think someone has been feeding you BS.
January 15th, 2010 at 3:31 am
First of all, it was not a “magnetic” pole shift — it was a geographic pole shift. Second, it was not a “shift” — it was a normal part of the slow precession of the the pole. It takes about 26,500 years for the pole to trace a circle in the sky. 13,000 years ago, the pole was pointed close to Vega. The precession is a slow steady movement, not a sudden “shift”.