stellar cycles

[dragonasbreath]

We are approching perihelion with Mars - first time in 60,000 years.
Got to thinking. We are at the height of the current sunspot cycle, also of the greater 22 yr cycle, apparently. Terra is at perihelion with respect to Sol - in the circular as opposed to elongated portion of the orbit.
We are nearing the top of the tilt cycle, only about 2º off, then back down again.
Winter Equinox 2013 will see the sun rising on the dark road down the middle of the milky way - just in time for the Mayan's 4th world to come to an end (or was it the 5th for them?).
Pluto is just leaving perihelion - he has/had moved inside of Neptune's orbit for closest approach to Terra. I am thinking he is headed back out, but we are talking about a 200-300 year orbit here.
Saw the other day, that Terra is entering a seciton of space where the cosmic dust is on the increase from where it has been since we started watching space.
Are there any other cycles that we are close to the beginnning/end of? (for that matter, which ones are we dead in the center of?
Like I said, I got to thinking the other day, and my mate says that is always dangerous. :blink:

[Fraser]

Well, there are all kinds of cycles going on of differing lengths that we are at different points along. We are indeed getting close to Mars, but we're going to be even closer at various points in a few hundred years. We thought we were through the solar cycle but it took a double spike and the number of sunspots is actually pretty high right now (155 at last count). But then we're at random points through all kinds of other cycles: relation to Jupiter, position of Mercury, Milky Way galaxy, etc.

It would be cool for someone to maintain a list of all the cycles, though, so people could see the fraction that are actually in any meaningful position.

So, I wouldn't make anything of these various coincidences.

[dragonasbreath]

it would be cool to track these cylcles - yep. That's why I put this question up.

Specifically, I was wondering about cycles that are nearing perihelionor aphelion.

The only thing I make of all these coincidences is - How much does gloabal warming have to do with our output, and how much with our current orbital position (remembering we have yet to recover from teh little ice age of the 1600s to the relatively balmy climate of the 1000s).

as for the Mayan 5th world coming to and end coincidign with Sol lining up with the "Dark Road up the Milky Way", my reaction when I learned that was "that would be a wonerful marker that the calendrical cycle is coming to a new beginning!" As far as getting my affairs in order for the end of hte world, well...
my world came to an end in the 80s to be replaced with the modern world 9that was the time frame when persoanl computers became available to the average citizen, and alhtough we are only in hte very early stages, the computer will change our world as throughly as farming, weaving, the industrial revolution, and telephones did.
I'm not partiucalry worried about the coming "Doomsday" (anyones), just sitting back and seeing what will happen :D