Image: The orange dwarf approaches. Could this be the scene as Gliese 710 crashes through our solar system? (ESO)
Posted on 03/14/2010 7:24:24 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An orange dwarf star named Gliese 710 is powering in our direction and an astronomer has calculated an 86 percent chance of the interstellar interloper smashing through the Oort Cloud, located in the outermost reaches of our solar system. This could have the devastating effect of scattering the icy Oort Cloud objects (or OCOs), causing them to plunge toward the sun and the inner planets, potentially bombarding Earth with comets... It is hypothesized that close encounters of the stellar kind have kicked OCOs out of the Oort Cloud in the past, creating some of the long period comets we see today, such as comet Hale Bopp. It is also thought that such encounters could periodically cause mass extinction events on Earth through comet impacts. Although the star -- currently located 63 light years from Earth and approximately half the mass of our sun -- has been known to be heading for us for some time, this is the first time such a high probability for a close encounter has been calculated. But could Gliese 710 penetrate even deeper into the solar system? Possibly, although those odds are more cheery. The chances of the star reaching as deep as the Kuiper Belt (near the orbit of Pluto) is around 1 in 1000. This might not be an imminent threat, and it's debatable whether any human descendants will be watching the cosmic flyby, it's nice to know when the next risk of comet bombardment may occur. Although I doubt we'd be able to do much about it anyway.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
Image: The orange dwarf approaches. Could this be the scene as Gliese 710 crashes through our solar system? (ESO)
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Bush’s fault.
Hmm. In 1.5 Million YEARS.
We’ll be lucky to get through the next THREE!
Nothing for Zer0 to worry about.
How many millenia before it reaches us?
We will all be turned into dust when we see the after effects.
Ain't that the truth......
Sad to say......
He’ll use it as an excuse to create a new dept....
Should we bother to change the clocks at work tomorrow?
1 and half million years from now. I’ll be up all night worrying.
Almost enough time to pay off 0bama's deficit.
Oort Cloud Objects Czar. At least a billion dollar budget to start.
Isn’t Algore predicting that we’re all going to be toast by 2050 anyway?
The Gliese 710 encounter will produce a comet shower roughly six times more severe than what Alpha and Proxima will generate. It’s unlikely, however, that the increase in the number of comets will lead to an extinction-level impact. Nevertheless, the impending passage of a red dwarf at a distance of only 70,000 AU has a certain panache.
History Channel has a new theme.
Yes. Sad to say indeed.
But since it is growing exponentially as we speak, I wouldn't be so sure about that!
Excuse me, pardon me, comin thru, pardon me...
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