Mayan Doomsday 2012: Watch the 'End of the World' Live Online

Amidst all the talk that the world is about to end, a robotic telescope has been set up to offer live coverage of the prophesied Mayan apocalypse.

The online Slooh Space Camera, which has previously covered events such as the Asteroid Toutatis (a three-mile-long asteroid) and the Total Solar Eclipse, will provide real-time shots from space, monitoring solar activity, the earth's magnetic field and other possible threats to the future of our planet.

According to a statement from the Slooh team, the webcast will produce a series of live intergalactic broadcasts using its telescopes in Arizona and the Canary Islands. The team, which is headed by entrepreneur Michael Paolucci, aims to help the public understand what happens in the solar system.

"Rather than merely offer scientists' dismissals of the many silly doomsday scenarios that have now been heard by almost everyone in the world, and which have reportedly produced panic in Russia, Slooh will take a 'let's see for ourselves' attitude," Astronomy Magazine columnist Bob Berman said in a statement.

"By acting independently of any government agency, which assumedly would be disbelieved by the millions who are convinced a giant cover-up is in place, Slooh will observe the planets and the ecliptic plane for anything out of the ordinary."

The end of the world has been a popular topic of discussion in recent weeks, with the Mayan Long Count Calendar coming to an end tomorrow (21 December). Some have predicted this will trigger the Mayan Doomsday and the destruction of our planet.

However the link to the Mayan calendar itself is tenuous, because the original prophecy involved a planet called Nibiru (discovered by the Sumerian civilization), which was believed to be on a collision course with Earth.

NASA continues to deny that the world is about to end and has already published a video explaining why it won't. The space agency has long maintained a page explaining why the world is probably not going to be destroyed for several billion years.

The Mayan Elders have also stated that it is not really a doomsday approaching but a phase of "transformation." According to Mayan Elder Don Carlos Barrios, people have misinterpreted the signs because what will really happen on 21 December is a "rebirth."

"Humanity will continue but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human," Barrios said.

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